The native races of the Pacific states of North America. [microform]

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THE NATIVE RACES

OF THE

PACIFIC STATES.

THE

NATIVE RACES

OF

THE PACIFIC STATES

NORTH AMERICA.

BY

HUBERT HOWE BANOROFT.

VOLUME Irr.

MYTHS AND LANGUAGES.

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
1875,

| ESS 63763

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and
seventy five, by De

HUBERT H. BANCROFT,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

CONTENTS OF THIS VOLUME.

—_—_

MYTHOLOGY.

-_— —-e-

CHAPTER I.
SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

PAGE.

Difference between Man and Brutes—Mind-Language and Soul-Lan-
guage—Origin of Language: A Gift of the Creator, a Human In-
vention, or an Evolution—Nature and Value of Myth—Origin of
Myth: The Divine Idea, a Fiction of Sorcery, the Creation of a
Designing Priesthood—Origin of Worship, of Prayer, of Sacrifice
—Fetichism and the Origin of Animal-Worship—Religion and My-

thology...... EACLE ORS RIMEL SOMA ED HORN OGETE HENS eR ONES A. paihe

CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

Quiché Creation-Myth—Aztec Origin-Myths—The Pépagos—Montezu-
ma and the Coyote—The Moquis—The Great Spider’s Web of the
Pimas—Navajo and Pueblo Creations—Origin of Clear Lake and
Lake Tahoe—Chareya of the Cahrocs—Mount Shasta, the Wig-
wam of the Great Spirit—Idaho Springs and Water Falls—How
Differences in Language Occurred—Yehl, the Creator of the Thlin-
keets—The Raven and the Dog......... veeoeee

CHAPTER III.
PHYSICAL MYTHS.

Sun, Moon, and Stars—Eclipses—The Moon Personified in the Land
of the Crescent—Fire—How the Coyote Stole Fire for the Cahrocs
—How the Frog Lost His Tail—How the Coyote Stole Fire for
the Navajos—Wind and Thunder—The Four Winds and the Cross
—Water, the First of Elemental Things—Its Sacred and Cleansing
Power—Earth and Sky—Earthquakes and Volcanoces—Mountains
—How the Hawk and Crow Built the Coast Range—The Moun-
tains of Yosemite ..... ccscissesecevcesvccsececscecscaecessces 108

PAGE.
CHAPTER IV.

ANIMAL MYTHOLOGY.

Roles Assigned to Animals—Auguries from their Movements—The III-
omened Owl—Tutelary Animals— Metamorphosed Men— The
Ogress-Squirrel of Vancouver Island—Monkeys and Beavers—
Fallen Men—The Sacred Animals—Prominence of the Bird—An
Emblem of the Wind—The Serpent, an Emblem of the Lightning
—Not Specially connected with Evil—The Serpent of the Pueblos
—The Water-Snake—Ophiolatry—Prominence of the Dog, or the
Coyote—Generally though not always a Benevolent Power— How
the Coyote let Salmon up the Klamath—Danse Macabre and Sad
Death of the Coyote..... SOR UOT HAL OOD ITE oe GUOL OL DOUe GL Ite 127

iv CONTENTS.
t

CHAPTER V. Vari
| GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Eskimo Witchcraft—The Tinneh and the Koniagas— Kugans of the
Aleuts—The Thlinkeets, the Haidahs, and the Nootkas—Paradise
Lost of the Okanagans—The Salish, the Clallams, the Chinooks,

1) | the Cayuses, the Walla Wallas, and the Nez Percés—Shoshone

|| Ghouls—Northern California—The Sun at Monterey—Ouiot and

Chinigchinich—Antagonistic Gods of Lower California—Coman-

ches, Apaches, and Navajos—Montezuma of the Pueblos—Moquis

and Mojaves—Primeval Race of Northern California............. 140 .

I

CHAPTER VI. mS
| GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP. i
Gods ‘and Religious Rites of Chihuahua, Sonora, Durango, and Si- ‘

naloa—The Mexican Religion, received with different degrees of
credulity by different classes of the people—Opinions of different
Writers as to its Nature—Monotheism of Nezahualcoyotl-—Present
condition of the Study of Mexican Mythology — Tezcatlipoca—

Prayers to Him inthe time of Pestilence, of War, for those in Au- The 1

thority—Prayer used by an Absolving Priest—Genuineness of the ¥

foregoing Prayers—Character and Works of Sahagun............. 178 p

F

CHAPTER VII. cl

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP. A

Image of Tezcatlipoca— His Seats at the Street-corners— Various of

Legends about his Life on Earth—Quetzalcoatl—His Dexterity in ni

; the Mechanical Arts—His Religious Observances—The Wealth ei
and Nimbleness of his Adherents—Expulsion from Tula of Quet- la

zalcoatl by Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli—The Magic Draught tl

CONTENTS. v

PAGE.

—Huemac, or Vemac, King of the Toltecs, and the Misfortunes
brought upon him and his veople by Tezcatlipoca in various dis-
guises—Quetzalcoatl in Cholula—Differing Accounts of the Birth
and Life of Quetzalcoatl—His Gentle Character--He drew up the
Mexican Calender—Incidents of his Exile and of his Journey to
Tlapalla, as related and commented upon by various writers—Bras-
seur’s ideas about the Quetzalcoat! Myths—Quetzalcoatl considered
a Sun-God by Tylor, and as a Dawn-Hero by Brinton—Helps—
Domenech—The Codices — Long Discussion of the Quetzalcoatl
Myths by J. G. Miller

CHAPTER VIII.
GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Various wcounts of the Birth, Origin, and Derivation of the name of
the Mexican War God, Huitzilopochtli, of his Temple, Image,
Ceremonial, Festivals, and his deputy, or page, Paynal—Clavigero
—Boturini—Acosta—Solis — Sahagun—Herrera—Torquemada—J,
G. Miiller’s Summary of the Huitzilopochtli Myths, their Origin,
Relation, and Signification —Tylor—Codex Vaticanus — Tlaloe,
God of Water, especially of Rain, and of Mountains—Clavizero,
Gama, and Ixtlilxochitl—Prayer in time of Drought—Camargo,
Motolinia, Mendieta, and the Vatican Codex on the Sacrifices to
Tlaloc—The Decorations of his Victims aud the places of their
Execution—Gathering Rushes for the Service of the Water God—
Highway Robberies by the Priests at this time—Decorations and
Implements of the Priests—Punishments for Ceremonial Offences
—The Whirlpool of Pantitlan—Images of the Mountains in honor
of the Tlaloc Festival—of the coming Rain and Mutilation of the
Images of the Mountains—General Prominence in the cult of Tla-
loc, of the Number Four, the Cross, and the Snake

CHAPTER IX.

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

The Mother or all-nourishing Goddess under various names and in
various aspects—Her Feast in the Eleventh Aztec month Och-
paniztli—Festivals of the Eighth month, Hueyteeuilhuitl, and of the
Fourth, Hueytozoztli— The deification of women that died in
child-birth—The Goddess of Water under various names and in
various aspects—Ceremonies of the Baptism or lustration of chil-
dren—The Goddess of Love, her various names and aspects—Rites
of confession and absolution— The God of fire and his various
names—His festivals in the tenth month Xocotlveti and in the
eighteenth month Yzcali; also his quadriennial festival in the
latter month—The great festival of every fifty-two years; lighting
the new fire—The God of Hades, and Teoyaomique, collector of the

vi CONTENTS.

PAGE.
souls of the fallen brave—Deification of dead rulers and heroes—
Mixcoatl, God of hunting, and his feast in the fourteenth month,
Quecholli—Various other Mexican deities—Festival in the second
month, Tlacaxipehualiztli, with notice of the gladiatorial sacrifices
—Complete Synopsis of the festivals of the Mexican Calendar, fixed

and movable—Temples and Priests........... Dalivuaaviunesaevierns 349
CHAPTER X. :
Natiy
GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSH'P. Vv
Revenues of the Mexican Temples—Vast number of the Priests—Mexi- V
can Sacerdotal System—Priestesses—The Orders of Tlamaxcaca- I
yotl and Telpochtiliztli—Religious Devotees—Baptism—Circum- F
cision—Communion—Fasts and Penance—Blood-drawing—Human 1
Sacrifices—The Gods of the Tarascos—Priests and Temple Ser- le
vice of Michoacan—Worship in Jalisco—Oajaca—Votan and Quet-
zalcoatl— Travels of Votan—The Apostle Wixepecocha—Cave
near Xustlahuaca—The Princess Pinopiaa—Worship of Costahun-
COS TOG WOM cic cr dent. cote vanes escsees eevee ieee 430 ve
Distin
CHAPTER XI. F ot
GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP. an
Maya Pantheon — Zamné— Cukulcan—The Gods of Yucatan—The P
Symbol of the Cross in America—Human Sacrifices in Yucatan— "
Priests of Yucatan—Guatemalan Pantheon—Tepeu and Hurakan— Ve
Avilix and Hacavitz—The Heroes of the Sacred Book—Quiché \ ww,
Gods—Worship of the Choles, Manches, Itzaes, Lacandones, and
others—Tradition of Comizahual—Fasts—Priests of Guatemala —
Gods, Worship, and Priests of Nicaragua—Worship on the Mos-
quito Coast—Gods and Worship of the Isthmians—Phallic Wor-
Bhip itn America. 6... ..cscescovec serves eorecererecvece ‘mines 461 The He
d
CHAPTER XII. Ne
FUTURE STATE. mer
Aboriginal Ideas of Future—General Conceptio\ of Souls—Future . ra
State of the Aleuts, Chepewyans, Natives at Milbank Sound, and gs
Okanagans—Happy Land of the Salish and Chinooks—Conceptions Nag
of Heaven and Hell of the Nez Percés, Flatheads, and Haidahs— on
The Realms of Quawteaht and Chayher—Beliefs of the Songhies, es

Clallams, and Pend d’Oreilles—The Future State of the Califor-
nian and Nevada Tribes, Comanches, Pueblos, Navajos, Apaches,
Mogquis, Maricopas, Yumas, and others—The Sun House of the
Mexicans—Tlalocan and Mictlan—Condition of the Dead—Jour-
ney of the Dead—Future of the Tlascaltecs and other Nations .... 510 Multiplic

CONTENTS.

LANGUAGES.

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGES.
PAGE.

Native Languages in Advance of Social Customs—Characteristic Indi-

viduality of American Tongues — Frequent Occurrence of Long

Words—Reduplications, Frequentatives, and Duals—Intertribal

Languages — Gesture-Language—Slavé and Chinook Jargons—

Pacific States Languages—The Tinneh, Aztec, and Maya Tongues

The Larger Families Inland—Language as a Test of Origin—Simi-

larities in Unrelated Languages—Plan of this Investigation.

CHAPTER II.
HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

Distinction between Eskimo and American — Eskimo Pronunciatioi:
and Declension-—Dialects of the Koniagas and Aleute—Language
of the Thlinkeets— Hypothetical Affinities—The Tinneh Family
and its Dialecis---astern, Western, Central, and Southern Divi-
sions—Chepewyan Declension—-Oratorical Display in the Speech

of the |< utchins—Dialects of the Atnahs and Ugalenzus Compared
—Specimen of the Koltshane Tonguve—Tacully Gutturals—Hoopah
Vocabulary — Apache Dialects—Lipan Lord’s Prayer — Navajo
Words—Comparative Vocabulary of the Tinneh Family ...... oo» 574

CHAPTER III.
COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

The Haidah, its Construction and Conjugation—The Nass Language
and its Dialects—Bellacoola and Chimsyan Comparisons—The
Nootka Languages of Vancouver Island—Nanaimo Ten Command-
ments and Lord’s Prayer—Aztec Analogies—Fraser and Thompson
River Languages—The Neetlakapamuck Grammar and Lord’s
Prayer—Sound Languages—The Salish Family—Flathead Gram-
mar and Lord’s Prayer—The Kootenai—The Sahaptin Family—
Nez Percé Grammar— Yakima Lord’s Prayer—Sahaptin State and
Slave Languages—The Chinook Family—Grammar of the Chinook
Language—Aatec Affinities—The Chinook Jargon

CHAPTER IV.
CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

Multiplicity of Tongues—Yakon, Klamath, and Palaik Comparisons—
Pitt River and Wintoon Vocabularies—Weeyot, Wishosk, Weitspek,

CONTENTS.

PAGE,
and Ehnek Comparisons—Languages of Humboldt Bay—Potter
Valley, Russian aid Eel River Languages—Pomo Languages—.
Gallinomero Grammar — Trans-Pacific Comparisons — Chocuyem
Lord’s Prayer—Languages of the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Napa,
and Sonoma Valleys—The Olhone and other Languages of San
Francisco Bay—Runsien and Eslene of Monterey—Santa Clara
Lord’s Prayer—Mutsun Grammar—Languages of the Missions Santa
Cruz, San Antonio de Padua, Soledad, and San Miguel—Tatché
Grammar—The Dialects of Santa Cruz and other Islands. ..... ... 635

CHAPTER V.
SHOSHONE LANGUAGES,

Aztec-Sonora Connections with the Shoshone Family—The Utah, Co-
manche, Moqui, Kizh, Netela, Kechi, Cahuillo, and Chemehuevi—
Eastern and Western Shoshone, or Wihinasht—The Bannack and
Digger, or Shoshokee—The Utah and its Dialects—The Goshute,
Washoe, Paiulee, Piute, Sampitche, and Mono—Popular Belief as
to the Aztec Element in the North—Grimm’s Law-—Shoshone, Co-
manche, and Moqui Comparative Table-—Netela Stanza—Kizh
Grammar—The Lord’s Prayer in two Dialects of the Kizh—Cheme-
huevi and Cahuillo Grammar—Comparative Vocabulary

CHAPTER VI.
THE PUEBLO, COLORADO RIVER, AND LOWER CALIFORNIA LANGUAGES,

Traces of the Aztec not found among the Pueblos of New Mexico and
Arizona—The Five Languages of the Pueblos, the Queres, the
Tegua, the Picoris, Jemez, and Zufii—Pueblo Comparative Vocabu-
lary—The Yuma and its Dialects, the Maricopa, Cuchan, Mojave,
Dieguefio, Yampais, and Yavipais--The Cochimi and Perici, with
their Dialects of Lower California — Guaicuri Grammar — Pater
Noster in Three Cochimi Dialects--The Languages of Lower Cali-
fornia wholly Isolated

CHAPTER VII.
THE PIMA, OPATA, AND CERI LANGUAGES,

Pima Alto and Bajo—Papago—Pima Grammar—Formation of Plurals
—Personal Pronoun—Conjugation—Classification of Verbs—Ad-
verbs—Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections—Syntax of
the Pima—Prayers in different dialects---The Spat and Eudeve—
Eudeve Grammar—Conjugation of Active and Passive Verbs—
Lord’s Prayer—Opata Grammar—Declension—Possessive Pronoun
——Conjugation—Ceri Language with its Dialects, Guaymi and Te-
poca—Ceri Vocabulary... 0.0. c cece eter eee e eens veoees 604

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VIII.
NEW MEXICAN LANGUAGES.

The Cahita and its Dialects—Cahita Grammar—Dialectic Differences
of the Mayo, Yaqui, and Tehueco— Comparative Vocabulary —
Cahita Lord’s Prayer—The Tarahumara and its Dialects—The
Tarahumara Grammar—Tarahumara Lord’s Prayer in two Dialects
—The Concho, the Toboso, the Julime, the Piro, the Suma, the
Chinarra, the Tubar, the Irritila—Tejano—Tejano Grammar—
Specimen of the Tejano—The Tepehuana—Tepehuana Grammar
and Lord’s Prayer—Acaxée and its Dialects, the Topia, Sabaibo
and Xixime—The Zacatec, Cazcane, Mazapile, Huitcole, Guachi-
chile, Colotlan, Tlaxomultec, Tecuexe, and Tepecano—The Cora
and its Dialects, the Muutzicat, Teacuaeitzca, and Ateacari—Cora
Grammar,.............55 Fics Deen PG aR AREERENONE 706

CHAPTER IX.
THE AZTEO AND OTOMI LANGUAGES.

Nahua or Aztec, Chichimec, and Toltec languages identical—-Andhuac
the aboriginal seat of the Aztec Tongue—The Aztec the oldest
language in Andhuac—Beauty and Richness of the Aztec—Testi-
mony of the Missionaries and early writers in its favor—Specimen
from Paredes’ Manual—Grammar of the Aztec Language— Aztec
Lord’s Prayer—The Otomi a Monvsyllabic Language of Andhuac
—-Relationship claimed with the Chinese and Cherokee—Otomi
Grammar—Otom{ Lord’s Prayer in Different Dialects......... vee 728

CHAPTER X.
LANGUAGES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MEXICO.

The Pame and its Dialects—The Meco of Guanajuato and the Sierra
Gordo—The Tarasco of Michoacan and its Grammar—-The Matlal-
tzinca and its Grammar—The Ocuiltec—The Miztec and its Dialects
—Miztec Grammar—The Amusgo, Chocho, Mazatec, Cuicatec, Cha-
tino, Tlapanec, Chinantec, and Popoluca—The Zapotec and its
Grammar—The Mije—Mije Grammar and Lord's Prayer—The
Huave of the Isthmus of Tehuahtepec—Huave Numerals,

CHAPTER XI.
THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES,

The Maya-Quiché, the Languages of the Civilized Nations of Central
America—Enumeration of tho Members of this Family-—Hypothet-
ical Analogies with Languages of the Old World-—-Lord's Prayers
in the Chafiabal, Chiapanes, Chol, Tzendal, Zoque, and Zotzil-—-
Pokonchi Grammar—The Mame or Zaklopahkap—Quiché Gram-
mar.-Cakchiquel Lord’s Prayer—Maya Grammar—Totonac Gram-
mar—Totonac Dialecta—Hunstec Grammar ....

CONTENTS.

PAGE.
CHAPTER XII.
LANGUAGES OF HONDURAS, NICARAGUA, COSTA RICA, AND THE ISTHMUS
OF DARIEN. u

The Carib an ‘mported Language—The Mosquito Language—The Poya,
Towka, Seco, Valiente, Rama, Cookra, Woolwa, and other Lan-
guages in ‘“fonduras—The Chontal—Mosquito Grammar—Love
Song in the Mosquito Language—Comparative Vocabulary of
Honduras Tongues—The Coribici, Chorotega, Chontal, and Orotifia
in Nicaragua—Grammar of the Orotifia or Nagrandan—Comparison’
between the Orotifia and Chorotega—The Chiriqui, Guatuso, Tiri-
bi, and others in Costa Rica—Talamanca Vocabulary—Diversity
of Speech on the Isthmus of Darien—Enumeration of Languages
—Comparative Vocabulary....

Dirrerr
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ophy pu

THE NATIVE RACES

OF THE

PACIFIC STATES.

MYTHOLOGY, LANGUAGES.

CHAPTER I.
SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

DIFFERENCE BETWEFN Man and Brotrs—Minp Lanavaace anp Sovn-Lan-
avuace —Onrrarn or Lanavacs: A Girt or THE Creator, A Human
INVENTION, OR AN Evonutron—NaTuRE AND VALUE of MytH—OnriaGin oF
Myra: Tue Divine Ipega, A Fiction or Sorcery, THE CREATION OF A
Desranina PrrestHoop-- ORIGIN oF WorsHI?P, oF Prayer, or Sacrrvicr--
FrticuHiIsM AND THE OrIGIN oF ANIMAL-WorsHIpP—RELIGION aND My-
THOLOGY,

Hitnerto we have beheld Man only in his material
organism; as a wild though intellectual animal. We
have watched the intercourse of uncultured mind with
its environment. We have seen how, to clothe himself,
the savage robs the beast; how, like animals, primitive
man constructs his habitation, provides food, rears a
family, exercises authority, holds property, wages war,
indulges in amusements, gratifies social instincts; and
that in all this, the savage is but one remove from the
brute. Ascending the scale, we have examined the first
stages of human progress and analyzed an incipient civ-
ilization, We will now pass the frontier which separates
mankind from animal-kind, and enter the domain of the
immateria! and supernatural; phenomena which philos-
ophy purely positive cannot explain,

SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

The primary indication of an absolute superiority in
man over other animals is the faculty of speech; not
those mute or vocal symbols, expressive of passion and
emotion, displayed alike in brutes and men; but the
power to separate ideas, to generate in the mind and
embody in words, sequences of thought. True, upon the
threshold of this inquiry, as in whatever relates to
primitive man, we find the brute creation hotly pursuing,
and disputing for a share in this progressional power.
In common with man, animals possess all the organs of
sensation. They see, hear, feel, taste, and smell. They
have even the organs of speech; but they have not
speech. The source of this wonderful faculty lies further
back, obscured by the mists which ever settle round the
immaterial. Whether brutes have souls, according to
the Aristotelean theory of soul, or whether brute-soul is
immortal, or of quality and destiny unlixe and inferior
to that of man-soul, we see in them unmistakable evi-
dence of mental faculties. The higher order of animals
possess the lower order of intellectual perceptions. Thus
pride is manifested by the caparisoned horse, shame by
the beaten dog, will by the stubborn mule. Brutes
have memory; they manifest love and hate, joy and
sorrow, gratitude and revenge. They are courageous or
cowardly, subtle or simple, not merely up to the meas-
ure of what we commonly term instinct, but with evi-
dent exercise of judgment; and, to a certain point, we
might even claim for them foresight, as in laying in a
store of food for winter, But with all this there seems
to be a lack of true or connected thought, and of the fac-
ulty of abstraction, whereby conceptions are analyzed
and impressions defined,

They have also a language, such as it is; indeed, all
the varieties of language common to man. What ges-
ture-language can be more expressive than that employed
by the horse with its ears and by the dog with its tail,
wherein are manifestations of every shade of joy, sor-
row, courage, fear, shame, and anger? In their brutish
physiognomy, also, one may read the language of the

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and beli

THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION. 8

emotions, which, if not so delicately pictured as in the
face of man, is none the less distinctive. Nor are they
without their vocal language. Every fowl and every
quadruped possesses tlie power of communicating intelli-
gence by means of the voice. They have their noise of
gladness, their signal cry of danger, their notes of
anger and of woe. Thus we see in brutes not only in-
telligence but the power of communicating intelligence.
But intelligence is not thought, neither is expression
speech. The linguage of brutes, like themselves, is soul-
less.

The next indication of man’s superiority over brutes, is
the faculty of worship. The wild beast, to escape the
storm, flies howling to its den; the savage, awe-stricken,
turns and prays. The lowest man perceives a hand be-
hind the lightning, hears a voice abroad upon the storm,
for which the highest brute has neither eye norear. This
essential of humanity we see primordially displayed in
mythic phenomena; in the first struggle of spiritual man-
hood to find expression. Language is symbol significant
of thought, mythology is symbol significant of soul. The
one is the first distinctive sound that separates the ideal
from the material, the other the fist respiration of the
soul which distinguishes the immortal from the animal.
Language is thought incarnate; mythology, soul incar-
nate. ‘The one is the instrument of thought, as the other
is the essence of thought. Neither is thought; both are
closely akin to thought; separated from either, in some
form, perfect intellectual manhood cannot develop. I
do not mean to say with some, that thought without
speech cannot exist; unless by speech is meant any form
of expression symbolical, emotional, or vocal, or unless
by thought is meant something more than mere self-
consciousne: ~‘ti:out sequence and without abstraction.
There can be ro doubt that speech is the living breath
of thought, and that the exercise of speech reacts upon
the mental and emotional faculties, In brutes ir found
neither speech nor myth; in the deaf and dumb, thought
and belief are shadowy and undefined; in infants,

4

SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

thought is but as a fleeting cloud passing over the brain.
Yet for all this, deaf mutes and children who lave no

adequate form of expression cannot be placed in the cate-

gory of brutes. The invention of the finger-alphabet

opened a way to the understanding of the deaf and dumb;

but long before this is learned, in every instance, these

unfortunates invent a gesture-language of their own, in

which they think as well as speak.: And could we but see

the strangely contorted imagery which takes possession

of a gesture-thinker's brain, we should better appreciate

the value of words. So, into the mouth of children

words are put, round which thoughts coalesce; but evi-

dences of ideas are discovered some time before they can

be fully expressed by signs or sounds. Kant held the
opinion that the mind of a deaf mute is incapable of
development, but the wonderful success of our modern
institutions has dissipated forever that idea,

The soul of man is a half-conscious inspiration from
which perception and expression are inseparable. Na-
ture speaks to it in that subtle sympathy by which the
immaterial within holds converse with the immaterial
without, in the soft whisperings of the breeze, in the
fearful bellowings of the tempest. Between the soul
and body there is the closest sympathy, an interaction in
every relation. Therefore these voices of nature speak-
ing to nature's offspring, are answered back in various
ways according to the various organisms addressed. The
animal, the intellectual, the spiritual, whatsoever the
entity consists of, responds, and responding expands and
unfolds. Once give an animal the power to speak and
mental development ensues; for speech cannot continue
without ideas, and ideas cannot spring up without intel-
lectual evolution. A dim, half-conscious, brutish thought
there may be; but the faculty of abstraction, sequences
of thought, without words either spoken or unspoken,
cannot exist.

It is not at all probable that a system of gesture-lan-
guage was ever employed by any primitive people, prior
or in preference to vocal language. To communicate by

sign
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or e}
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by s
own.
In
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come
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ogy,
divine
Bu
are tl
plied
cate |
whate
or pho
as we
emotic
sound:
Indeec
listeni:
murin;
we are
Thu
of she
stages (
can be

ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE. 5

signs requires no little skill and implies a degree of arti-
fice and forethought far beyond that required in vocal
or emotional language. Long before a child arrives at
the point of intelligence necessary for conveying thought
by signs, it is well advanced in a vocal language of its
own.

In mythology, language assumes personality and inde-
pendence. O,ten the significance of the word becomes
the essential idea. Zeus, from meaning simply sky, be-
comes god of the sky; Eos, originally the dawn, is made
the goddess of the opening day. Not the idea but the
expression of the idea becomes the deity. And so, by
these creations of fancy, the imagination expands; in
the embodiment of the idea, the mind enlarges with its
own creation. Then yet bolder metaphors are thrown
off like soap-bubbles, which no sooner take form in
words than they are also deified. Thus soul and thought
and speech act and react on one another, all the evolu-
tions of conception seeking vent in sound or speculation ;
and thus language, the expression of mind, and mythol-
ogy, the expression of soul, become the exponents of
divine humanity.

But what then is Language, what is Myth, and whence
are they? Broadly, the term language may be ap-
plied to whatever social beings employ to communi-
cate passion or sentiment, or to influence one another;
whatever is made a vehicle of intelligence, ideographic
or phonetic, is language. In this category may be placed,
as we have seen, gestures, both instinctive and artificial;
emotional expression, displayed in form or feature; vocal
sounds, such as the cries of birds, the howling of beasts.
Indeed, language is everywhere, in everything. While
listening to the rippling brook, the roaring sea, the mur-
muring forest, as well as to the still small voice within,
we are but reading from the vocabulary of nature.

Thus construed, the principle assumes a variety
of shapes, and may be followed through successive
stages of development. In fact, neither form nor feature
can be set in motion, or even left in a state of repose,

6 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

without conveying intelligence to the observer. The
countenance of man, whether it will or not, perpetually
speaks, and speaks in most exquisite shades of signifi-
cance, and with expression far more delicate than that
employed by tongue or pen. The face is the reflex of
the soul; a transparency which glows with light, divine
or devilish, thrown upon it from within. It is a por-
trait of individual intelligence, a photograph of the inner
being, a measure of innate intelligence. And in all
pertaining to the actions and passions of mankind, what
can be more expressive than the language of the emo-
tions? There are the soft, silent wooings of love, the
frantic fury of hate, the dancing delirium of joy, the
hungry cravings of desire, the settled melancholy of dead
hopes. But more definitely, language is articulate
human speech or symbolic expression of ideas.

How man first learned to speak, and whence the power
of speech was originally derived, are questions concern-

ing which tradition is uncommunicative. Even mythol- '

ogy, which attempts the solution of supernatural mys-
teries, the explanation of all phenomena not otherwise
accounted for, has little to say as to the genesis of this
most potential of all human powers.

Many theories have been advanced concerning the
origin of language. Some of them are exploded; others
in various stages of modification remain, no two phi-
lologists thinking exactly alike. The main hypotheses
are three; the subordinate ones are legion. Obvious-
ly, speech must be either a direct, completed gift of the
Creator, with one or more independent beginnings; or a
human invention; or an evolution from a natural germ.

Schleicher conceives primordial language to be a sim-
ple organism of vocal gestures; Gould Brown believes
language to be partly natural and partly artificial; Adam
Smith and Dugald Stewart give to man the creation and
development of speech by his own artificial invention.
According to Heroditus, the Phrygians and the Egyptians
disputed over the question of the antiquity of their lan-
guages. Psammetichus thereupon confided two babes to

SCIENCE OF PHILOLOGY. 7

the care of goats, apart from every human sound. At
the end of two years they were heard to pronounce the
word bekos, the Phrygian for bread. The Phrygians
therefore claimed for their language the seniority.

In ancient times it was thought that there was some
one primeval tongue, a central language from which all
the languages of the earth radiated. The Sythic,
Ethiopic, Chinese, Greek, Latin, and other languages
advanced claims for this seniority. Plato believed lan-
guage to be an invention of the gods, and by them given
toman. Orthodox religionists did not hesitate to affirm
that Hebrew, the language of Paradise, was not only
given in a perfected state to man, but was miraculously
preserved in a state of purity for the chosen Israel.
After the dispersion from Babel, such nations as relapsed
into barbarism became barbaric in speech. And in the
roots of every dialect of both the old world and the
new, the Fathers were able to discern Hebrew analogies
sufficient to confirm them in their dogma, Indeed other
belief was heresy.

There were others who held that, when gesture-lan-
guage and the language of the emotions were found
insufficient for the growing necessities of man, by com-
mon consent, it was agreed that certain objects should be
represented by certain sounds, and that so, when a word
had been invented for every object, language was made.

Another doctrine, called by Mr. Wedgwood, its enthu-
siastic advocate, ‘onomatopoeia, and by Professor Max
Miller the ‘bow-wow’ theory, explains the origin of
language in the effort of man to imitate the cries of
nature. Thus, for dog the primitive languageless man
would say bow-wow; to the rivulet, the wind, the birds
and beasts, names were applied which as far as possible
were but reproductions of the sounds made by these ele-
ments or animals.

Thus philology up to a comparatively late period was .
a speculation rather than a science. Philosophers sought
to know whence language came rather than what lan-
guage is. But when the great discovery concerning the

8 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

Arian and Semitic families was made, comparative
philologists went to work after the manner of practical
investigators in other branches of study, by collecting,
classifying and comparing vocabularies, and _there-
from striking out a path backward to original trunks.
Catalogues of languages were published, one in 1800 by
Hervas, a Spanish Jesuit, containing three hundred dia-
lects, followed by Adelung and Vater’s Mithridates, from
1806-17. But not until Sanscrit was made a subject of
European study did it become apparent that affinities of
tongues are subject to the laws that govern affinities
of blood. Then it was that a similarity was discovered,
not only between the Sanscrit and the Greek and Latin
tongues, but between these languages and the Teutonic,
Celtic, Iranic, and Indic, all of which became united in
the great Arian family. At the same time, the ancient
language of the Jews, the Aravic, and the Aramaic—
which constitute the Semitic family—were found to be
totally different from the Arian in their radical struc-
ture. From these investigations, philologists were no
less convinced that the Indo-European languages were
all of the same stock, than that the Semitic idioms did
not belong to it. The doctrine of the Fathers therefore
would not stand; for it was found that all languages
were not derivations from the Hebrew, nor from any
other known central tongue.

Then too, the subordination of tongues to the laws of
evolution became apparent. It was discovered that lan-
guage was in a state of constant change; that, with all
its variations, human speech could be grouped into fami-
lies, and degrees of relationship ascertained ; and that, by
the comparison of vocabularies, a classification at once
morphological and genealogical could be made. Varieties
of tongues, as numberless as the phases of humanity,
could be traced back towards their beginnings and resolved
into earlier forms, It was discovered that in the first

order of linguistic development, words are monosyllabic.
In this rudimentary stage, to which the Chinese, Tibetan,
and perhaps the Japanese belong, roots, or sounds ex-

VARIATIONS OF LANGUAGE. 9

pressive only of the material or substantial of
things, are used. In the second stage, called the poly-
synthetic, aggregative, or agglutinate, a modifying ter-
mination, significant of the relations of ideas or things
to each other, is affixed or glued to the root. To the
agglutinate languages belong the American and Tura-
nian families. In the third, called the inflectional
stage, which comprises only the Arian and Semitic fami-
lies, the two elements are more perfectly developed, and
it is only in this stage that language can attain the
highest degree of richness and refinement.

While these stages or conditions are recognized by all, .
it is claimed on one side that although settled languages
retain their grammatical character, every agglutinate,
language must once have been monosyllabic, or radical, ;
and every inflectional language once agglutinate; and on
the other side it is averred that the assertion is incapable
of proof, for no historical evidence exists of any one
type ever having passed from one of these stages to
another. Now if speech is a perfected gift of the Crea-,
tor, how happens it that we find language in every stage
of development or relapse, from the cluckings of Thlin-
keets to the classic lines of Homer and of Shakspeare? .
In his physiological structure, so far as is known, Man is
neither more nor less perfect z:.w than in the days of
Adam. How then if language is an organism, is it, un-
like other organisms, subject to extreme and sudden
change? In animated nature there are two principles;
one fixed and finished as an organism, subject to per-
petual birth and decay, but incapable of advancing or
retrograding; the other, elemental life, the germ or cen-
tre of a future development. The one grows, the other
unfolds. We have no evidence that instincts and
organic functions were more or less perfect in the be-
ginning than now. If therefore language is an instinct
or an organism, a perfect gift of the Creator, how can it
exist otherwise than in a concrete and perfect state like
other instincts and organisms?

The absurdity that human speech is the invention of

10 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

primitive man —that upon some grassy knoll a company
of half-clad barbarians met, and without words invented
words, without significant sounds produced sounds sig-
nificant of every object, therein by mutual consent
originating a language—may be set aside. Of all con-
jectures concerning the origin of language, the hypothesis
that words are an artificial invention is the least tenable.
And what is most surprising to us, at the present day,
is that such men as Locke and Adam Smith and Dugald
Stewart could for a moment have entertained the idea.
Obviously, without language there could be no culture,
and without culture, words never could have been in-
vented. Words are the symbols of objects and ideas.
Certain words may he arbitrarily selected, and, by the
tacit agreement or general concurrence of society, may
be made to signify certain things. And in this sense
words may originate conventionally. But though words
may have been conventionally selected, they were never
selected by conventions. We then have the discoveries
of modern philologists, not only to positively deny the
infallibility of the common-origin theory, but to bring
forward a number of other claimants for the greatest
antiquity, as well entitled to a hearing as the Hebrew.
Diversity in the origin of speech does not of necessity
imply diversity in the origin of race. Thus with a
unity of race, circumstances may be conceived in
which independent tongues may have arisen in different
localities; whereas with a diversity of race; but one lan-
guage hypothetically may have been given to all. A
common origin is probable, a diversity of origin is pos-
sible; neither can be proved cr disproved. The radical
differences in the structure of the three great types, the
monosyllabic, the agglutinate, and the inflectional; and
the inherent heterogeneities of the several families of the
same type, as of the Chinese nd Siamese, of the American
and Turanian, or even of t'. : Arian and Semitic, would
seem to present insurmount. le obstacles to the theory
of a common origin; while o, ‘he other hand the won-
derful mutations of types and -unks, the known trans-

UNIVERSALITY OF SPEECH. ll

formations of language, and the identifications by some
philologists, of the same stock in each of the three pro-
gressional stages, render the theory of a unity of ori-
gin in language equally probable. Therefore the ques-
tion of unity or diversity of tongues, as we speak of
unity or diversity of race, can be of but little moment
to us. Language shows the connection between nations
widely separated, leads us back beyond tradition into
the obscure past, follows the sinuosities of migrations,
indicates epochs in human development, points towards
the origin of peoples, serves as a guide in following the
radiation of races from common centres. Yet a simi-
larity in the sound, or even in the construction of two
words, does not necessarily imply relationship. Two
totally distinct languages may have borrowed the same
word from a third Isnguage; which fact would never
establish relationship between the borrowers. When
like forms are found in different languages, in order
to establish a relationship, historical evidence must be
applied as a test, and the words followed up to their
roots.

Stripped of technicalities, the question before us is
reduced to a few simple propositions. All men speak;
there never yet was found a nation without articulate
language. Aside from individual and abnormal excep-
tions, no primitive tiibe has ever been discovered, where
part of the people spoke, and part were speechless. Lan-
guage is as much a part of man, as any physical con-
stituent; yet unlike physical organs, as the eye, the ear,
the hand, language is not born with the individual. It
is not in the blood. The Caucasian infant stolen by
Apaches, cannot converse with its own mother when
restored to her a few years after.

Therefore speech is not an independent, perfected gift
of the Creator, but an incidental acquirement. Further-
more language is an attribute of society. It belongs to
the people and not to the individual. The child before
mentioned, if dropped by the Apaches among the bears
and by them nurtured and reared, is doomed to mutism

12 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

or bear-language. Man was made a social being; speech
was made as a means of communicating intelligence be-
tween social beings; one individual alone never could
originate, or even preserve a language.

But how then happens it, if man did not make it, and
God did not give it him, that human speech is universal?
With the organism of man the Creator implants the
organs of speech. With the elemental and progressional
life of man the Creator implants the germ of speech.
In common with the element of progress and civilization,
innate from the beginning, speech has developed by slow
degrees through thousands of cycles and by various stages,
marching steadily forward with the forward march of
the intellect. Comparative philology, in common with
all other sciences, accords to man a remote antiquity.
Bunsen estimates that at least twenty thousand years are
required for a language to pass from one rudimentary
stage to another.

The mind receives impressions and the soul intuitions,
and to throw them off in some form is an absolute neces-
sitv. Painful impressions tend to produce bodily contor-
tions and dolorous sounds; pleasant impressions to illu-
mine the features and to make musical the voice. And
not only is this compressed emotion destined to find ex-
pression, but to impress itself upon others. Emotion is
essentially sympathetic. Why certain objects are repre-
sented by certain sounds we can never know. Some
think that between every word and the object or idea
which it represents, there was in the first instance an
intimate relationship. By degrees certain natural ar-
ticulations became associated with certain ideas; then
new names were suggested by some fancied analogy to
objects already named. Everything else being equal,
similar conditions and causations produce similar im-
pressions and are expressed by similar sounds. Hence a
certain uniformity between all human tongues; and a ten-
dency in man to imitate the sounds in nature, the cries
of animals, the melodies of winds and waters, accounts
for the origin of many words.

MYTHOLOGY. 13

From giving expression in some outward form to our
inward emotion there is no escape. Let us now apply
to the expression of feeling and emotion the same law
of evolution which governs all social and intellectual
phenomena, and from a language of exclamations, we
have first the monosyllabic noun and verb, then auxil-
liaries, — adverbs, adjectives, prepositions and _pro-
nouns, — and finally inflections of parts of speech by
which the finer shades of meaning may be expressed.

The spontaneous outbursts of feeling, or the meta-
phorical expressions of emotion, arising instinctively
and acting almost simultaneously with the conception
or impression made upon the mind, develop with time
into settled forms of speech. Man speaks as birds
fly or fishes swim. "he Creator supplies the organs
and implants the instinct. Speech, though intuitive,
is more than intuition; for, as we have seen, speech
is a social rather than an individual attribute. Dar-
win perceives in language not only a spontaneous gen-
eration, but a natural selection of grammatical forms;
the best words, the clearest and shortest expressions,
continually displacing the weaker. So words are made
to fit occasions, and dropped as soon as better ones can
be found.

Languages are not inherited, yet language is an in-
heritance. Language is not artificially invented, yet
languages are but conventional agreements. Languages
are not a concrete perfected gift of the Creator, yet the
germ of language is ineradicubly implanted in man, and
was there implanted by none but man’s Creator. This
then is Language: it is an acquisition, but an acquisi-
tion from necessity; it is a gift, but, when given, an
undeveloped germ; it is an artifice, in so fer as it is
developed by the application of individual agencies,

Here, for a while, we will leave Language and turn
to Mythology, the mythos ‘fable’ and logos ‘speech’ of
the Grecians,

Wnder analysis mythology is open to broad yet sig-

14 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

nificant interpretations. As made up of legendary ac-
counts of places and personages, it is history; as relating
to the genesis of the gods, the nature and adventures
of divinities, it is religion; placed in the category of
science, it is the science of fable; of philosophy, the
philosophy of intuitive beliefs. A mass of fragmentary
truth and fiction not open to rationalistic criticism; a
system of tradition, genealugical and politica!, confound-
ing the subjective with the objective; a partition wall of
allegories, built of dead facts cemented with wild fan-
cies,—it looms ever between the immeasurable and the
measurable past.

Thick black clouds, portentous of evil, hang threaten-
ingly over the savage during his entire life. Genii
murmur in the flowing river, in the rustling branches
are felt the breathings of the gods, goblins dance in
vapory twilight, and demons howl in the darkness,

In the myths of wild, untutored man, is displayed
that inherent desire to account for the origin of things,
which, even at the present time, commands the pro-
foundest attention of philosophy; and, as we look back
upon the absurd conceptions of our savage ancestry with
feelings akin to pity and disgust, so may the speculations
of our own times appear to those who shall come after us.
Those weird tales which to us are puerility or poetry, ac-
cording as we please to regard them, were to their believ-
ers history, science, and religion, Yet this effort, which
continues from the beginning to the end, is not valueless;
in it is embodied the soul of human progress. Without
mythology, the only door at once to the ideal and inner
life of primitive peoples and to their heroic and historic
past would be forever closed to us. Nothing so reflects
their heart-secrets, exposes to our view their springs of
action, shadows forth the sources of their hopes and
fears, exhibits the models after which they moulded
their lives,

Within crude poetic imagery are enrolled their re-
ligious beliefs, are laid the foundations of their systems
of worship, are portrayed their thoughts concerning

isi}

eopate ame =z

ALL MYTHS FOUNDED ON FACT. 15

causations and the destinies of mankind. Under sym-
bolic veils is shrouded their ancient national spirit, all
that can be known of their early history and popular
ideas, Thus are explained the fundamental laws of na-
ture; thus we are told how earth sprang from chaos, how
men and beasts and plants were made, how heaven was
peopled, and earth, and what were the relative powers
and successive dynasties of the gods. Heroes are made
gods; gods are materialized and brought down to men.

Of the value of mythology it is unnecessary here to
speak. Never was there a time in the history of phi-
losophy when the character, customs, and beliefs of
aboriginal man, and everything appertaining to him, were
held in such high esteem by scholars as at present. As
the ultimate of human knowledge is approached, the in-
quirer is thrown back upon the past; and more and more
the fact becomes apparent, that what is, is but a re-
production of what has been; that in the earlier stages
of human development may be found the counterpart of
every phase of modern social life. Higher and more
heterogeneous as are our present systems of politics and
philosophy, every principle, when tracked to its begin-
ning, proves to have been evolved, not originated.

As there never yet was found a people without a lan-
guage, so every nation has its mythology, some popular
and attractive form for preserving historical tradition
and presenting ethical maxims; and as by the range
of their vocabularies we may follow men through all
the stages of their progress in government, domestic
affairs and mechanical arts, so, by beliefs expressed, we
may determine at any given epoch in the history of a
race their ideal and intellectual condition. Without the
substance there can be no shadow, without the object
there can be no name for it; therefore when we find a
language without a word to denote property or chastity,
we may be sure that the wealth and women of the tribe
are held in common; and when in a system of mythology
certain important metaphysical or wsthetic ideas and at-
tributes are wanting, it is evident that the intellect of

— - ee errant a) ee et a pe

16 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

its composers has not yet reached beyond a certain low
point of conception.

Moreover, as in things evil may be found a spirit
of good, so in fable we find an element of truth.
It is now a recognized principle of philosophy, that no
religious belief, however crude, nor any historical tra-
dition, however absurd, can be held by the majority of a
people for any considerable time as true, without having
in the beginning some foundation in fact. More espe-
cially is the truth of this principle apparent when we
consider that in all the multitudinous beliefs of all ages,
held by peoples savage and civilized, there exist a con-
currence of ideas and a coincidence of opinion, Huraan
conceptions of supernatural affairs spring from like intui-
tions. As human nature is essentially the same through-
out the world and throughout time, so the religious
instincts which form a part of that universal humanity
generate and develop ,in like manner under like con-
ditions. The desire to penetrate hidden surroundings
and the method of attempting it are to a certain extent
common to all. All wonder at the mysterious; all
attempt the solution of mysteries; all primarily possess
equal facilities for arriving at correct conclusions. The
genesis of belief is uniform, and the results under like
conditions analogous,

We may conclude that the purposes for which these
fictitious narratives were so carefully preserved and
handed down to posterity were two-fold,—to keep alive
certain facts and to inculcate certain doctrines,

Something there must have been in every legend, in
every tradition, in every belief, which has ever been en-
tertained by the majority of a people, to recommend it
to the minds of men in the first instance. Error abso-
lute cannot exis’; false doctrine without an amalgam of
verity speedily crumbles, and the more monstrous the
falsity the more rapid its decomposition. Myths were
the oracles of our savage ancestors; their creed, the rule
of their life, prized by them as men now prize their
faith; and, by whatever savage philosophy these strange

VALUE OF MYTHOLOGY. 17

conceits were eliminated, their effect upon the popular
mind was vital. Anaxagoras, Socrates, Protagoras, and
Epicurus well ‘knew and boldly proclaimed that the
gods of the Grecians were disreputable characters, not
the kind of deities to make or govern worlds; yet so
deep rooted in the hearts of the people were the maxims
of the past, that for these expressions one heretic was
cast into prison, another expelled from Athens, and
another forced to drink the hemlock. And the less
a fable presents the appearance of probability, the more
grotesque and extravagant it is, the less the likelihood
of its having originated in pure invention; for no ex-
travagantly absurd invention without a particle of truth
could by any possibility have been palmed off upon a
people, and by them accepted, revered, recited, preserved
as veritable incident or solution of mystery, and handed
down to those most dear to them, to be in like manner
held as sacred.

Therefore we may be sure that there never was a
myth without a meaning; that mythology is not a bun-
dle of ridiculous fancies invented for vulgar amusement;
that there is not one of these stories, no matter how
silly or absurd, which was not founded in fact, which did
not once hold a significance. ‘‘ And though I have well
weighed and considered all this,” concluded Lord Bacon,
nearly three hundred years ago, “and thoroughly seen
into the levity which the mind indulges for allegories
and illusions, yet I cannot but retain a high value for
the ancient mythology.” Indeed, to ancient myths has
been attributed the preservation of shattered fragments
of lost sciences, even as some have alleged that we are
indebted to the writings of Democritus and Aristotle for
modern geographical discoveries.

That these ductile narratives have suffered in their
transmission to us, that through the magnifying and
refracting influences of time, and the ignorance and
fanaticism of those to whom they were first recited, we
receive them mutilated and distorted, there can be no
doubt. Not one in a thousand of those aboriginal

18 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

beliefs which were held by the people of the Pacific
Coast at the time of its first occupation by foreigners, has
been preserved. And for the originality and purity of
such as we have, in many instances, no one can vouch.
Infatuated ecclesiastics who saw in tl:e native fable in-
disputable evidence of the presence of an apostle, or the
interposition of a tutelary saint in the affairs of benighted
heathendom, could but render the narrative in accord-
ance with their prepossessions. The desire of some to
prove a certain origin for the Indians, and the contempt
of others for native character, also led to imperfect or
colored narrations. But happily, enough has been pre-
served in authentic picture-writings, and by narrators
whose integrity and intelligence are above suspicion, to
give us a fair insight into the native psychological struc-
ture and belief; and if the knowledge we have is but in-
finitesimal in comparison with what has been lost, we
may thereby learn to prize more highly such as we have.

Again we come to the ever-recurring question—
Whence is it? Whence arise belief, worship, superst’
tion? Whence the striking likeness in all supernatural
concepticns between nations and ages the most diverse?
Why is it that so many peoples, during the successive
stages of their progress, have their creation myth, their
origin myth, their flood myth, their animal, and plant,
and planet myths? This coincidence of evolution can
scarcely be the result of accident. Mythologies, then,
being like languages common to mankind, unifurm in
substance yet varying in detail, what follows with re-
gard to the essential system of their supernatural con-
ceptions? Is it a perfected gift of the Creator, the
invention of a designing priesthood, or a spontaneous
generation and natural development? So broad a ques-
tion, involving as it does the weightiest matters con-
nected with man, may scarcely expect exactly the same
answer from any two persons. Origin of life, origin of
mind, origin of belief, are as much problems to the
profoundest philosopher of to-day, as they were to the
first wondering, bewildered savage who wandered
through primeval forests.

By
divine

ORIGIN OF BELIEF. 19

Life is defined by Herbert Spencer as “the coirdina-
tion of actions, or their continuous adjustment;” by
Lewes as ‘‘a series of definite and successive changes,
both of structure and composition, which take place
within an individual without destroying its identity ;”
by Schelling as ‘‘the tendency to individuation;” by
Richeraud as “a collection of phenomena which succeed
each other during a limited time in an organized body ;”’
and by De Blainville as ‘‘the two-fold internal movement
of composition and decomposition, at once general and
continuous.’ According to Hume, Mind is but a bundle
of ideas and impressions which are the sum of all knowl-
edge, and consequently, “‘the only things known to exist.”
In the positive philosophy of Auguste Comte, intel-
lectual development is divided into three phases; namely,
the Supernatural, in which the mind seeks for super-
natural causes; the Metaphysical, wherein abstract
forces are set up in place of supernatural agencies; and
the Positive, which inquires into the laws which engender
phenomena. Martineau, commenting upon intuition and
the mind’s place in nature, charges the current doctrine of
evolution with excluding the element of life from devel-
oping organisms. Until the origin of mind, and the rela-
tion of mind to its environment is determined, the origin
of the supernatural must remain unaccounted for. Yet we
may follow the principle of worship back to very near
its source, if we are unable entirely to account for it.

We have seen how the inability of brutes to form in
the mind long sequences of thought, prevents speech ;
so, in primitive societies, when successions of ,unrecorded
events are forgotten before any conception of general
laws can be formed therefrom, polytheism in its grossest
form is sure to prevail. Not until the earlier stages of
progress are passed, and, from a multitude of correlative
and oft-repeated experiences, general deductions made,
can there be any higher religious conceptions than that
of an independent cause for every consequence.

By some it is alleged that the religious sentiment is a
divine idea perfected by the Creator and implanted in

20 ' §PEECH AND SPECULATION.

i man as part of his nature, before his divergence from
a a primitive centre. Singularly enough, the Fathers of
|| the Church referred the origin of fable as well as the
i} origin of fact to the Hebrew Scriptures. Supported by
Wa) the soundest sophistry, they saw in every myth, Grecian

i or barbarian, a biblical character. Thus the Greek
Hercules was none other than the Hebrew Sampson;
Arion was Jonah, and Deucalion Noah. Other mytho-
a logical characters were supposed by them to have been
Hi! : incarnated fiends, who disappeared after working for a

time their evil upon men.

There have been those who held myths to be the
fictions of sorcery, as there are now those who believe
i that forms of worship were invented by a designing
| priesthood, or that mythology is but a collection of tales,

physical, ethical and historical, invented by the sages we

and ancient wise men of the nation. for the purpose of ahve

overawing the wicked and encouraging the good. Some dow
Ht declare that religion is a factitious or accidental social inh
Hi - phenomenon; others that it is an aggregation of organ- rial
hh | ized human experiences; others that it is a bundle of viel
| i sentiments which were originally projected by the im- nay
a agination, and ultimately adopted as entities; others led
Hh that it is a feeling or emotion, the genesis of which is thes
itl | due to surrounding circumstances. for }
mt, Many believe all mythological personages to have been chil
i | once real human heroes, the foundations of whose his- of d
HHI tories were laid in truth, while the structure was reared tion
iii by fancy. The Egyptians informed Herodotus that their ath >
ii deities—the last of whom was Orus son of Osiris, the 5 will,

| Apollo of the Grecians—were originally their kings.
Others affirm that myths are but symbolic ideas deified ; i teach
that they are but the embodiment of a maxim in the

mH t
nt form of an allegory, and that under these allegorical pb
iI forms were taught history, religion, law and morality. worsl

|

| | Intermingled with all these hypotheses are elements
| of truth, and yet none of them appear to be satisfying becon
explanations, All imply that religion, in some form, is

an essential constituent of humanity, and that whatever docto,

|

|

RISE OF THE PRIMITIVE PRIESTHOOD. a1

its origin and functions, it has exercised from the earliest
ages and does yet exercise the most powerful influence
upon man; working like leaven in the lump, keeping
the world in a ferment, stirring up men to action, band-
ing and disrupting nations, uniting and dividing com-
munities, and forming the nucleus of numberless socie-
ties and institutions.

In every society, small and great, there are undoubt-
edly certain intellects of quicker than ordinary percep-
tion, which seize upon occasions, and by a skillful use
of means obtain a mastery over inferior minds. It is
thus that political and social, as well as ecclesiastical
power arises. Not that the leader creates a want—he
is but the mouth-piece or agent of pent-up human in-
stincts. One of these instincts is dependence. That
we are created subordinate, not absolute nor unre-
strained, is a fact from which none can escape. Thral-
dom, constant and insurmountable, we feel we have
inherited. Most naturally, therefore, the masses of
mankind seek from among their fellows some embodi-
ment of power, and ranging themselves under the ban-
ner of leaders, follow blindly whithersoever they are
led. Perceiving the power thus placed in their hands,
these born leaders of men are not slow to invent means
for retaining and increasing it. To the inquiry of the
child or unsophisticated savage, who, startled by a peal
of distant thunder, cries, ‘What is that?” the explana-
tion is given: ‘That is the storm-god speaking.” ‘I
am afraid, protect me!” implores the supplicant. ‘‘I
will, only ohey,” is the reply. The answer is sufficient,
curiosity is satisfied, and terror allayed; the barbarian
teacher gains a devotee. In this manner, the super-
structure of creeds, witchcrafts, priestcrafts, may have
arisen; some gods may thus have been made, forms of
worship invented, and intercourse opened with beings
supernal and infernal. Then devotion advances and
becomes an art; professors by practice become e¢ xperts.
Meanwhile, craft is economized; the wary Shaman rain-
doctor—like the worthy clergyman of civilized ortho-

22 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

doxy, who refused to pray for rain “while the wind
was in that quarter’—watches well the gathering ripe-
ness of the cloud before he attempts to burst it with an
arrow. And in the end, a more than ordinary skill in
the exercise of this power, deifies or demonizes the
possessor.

But whence arises the necessity for craft and whence
the craft? The faculty of invention implies skill. Skill
successfully to play upon the instincts of humanity can
only be acquired through the medium of like instincts,
and although the skill be empirical, the play must be
natural. Craft alone will not suffice to satisfy the de-
sire; the hook must be baited with some small element
of truth before the most credulous will seize it. If
religious beliefs are the fruits of invention, how shall
we account for the strange coincidences of thought
and worship which prevail throughout all myths and
cults? Why is it that all men.of every age, in
conditions diverse, and in countries widely sundered,
are found searching out the same essential facts? All
worship; nearly all have their creation-myth, their
flood-myth, their theory of origin, of distribution from
primitive centres, and of a future state. In this regard
as in many another, civilization is but an evolution of
savagism; for almost every principle of modern phi-
losophy there may be found in primitive times its
parallel.

The nature and order of supernatural conceptions are
essentially as follows: The first and rudest form of be-
lief is Fetichism, which invests every phenomenon with
an independent personality. In the sunshine, fire, and
water, in the wind and rock and stream, in every
animal, bird, and plant, there is a separate deity; for
every effect there is a cause. Even Kepler, whose in-
tellect could track the planets in their orbits, must needs
assume a guiding spirit for every world. It is impos-
sible for the mind to conceive of self-creative or self-
existent forces,

In time the personalities of the fetich-worshiper be-

THEORIES CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF WORSHIP. 23

come to some extent generalized. Homogeneous appear-
ances are grouped into classes, and each class referred
to a separate deity, and hence Polytheism. Pantheism
then comes in and makes all created substance one with
the creator; nature and the universe are God. From the
impersonating of the forces of nature to the creation of
imaginary deities there is but a step. Every virtue and
vice, every good and evil becomes a personality, under
the direct governance of which lie certain passions and
events; and thus in place of one god for many individ-
uals, each individual may have a multitude of his own
personal gods. The theogony of Hesiod was but a sys-
tem of materialized love and hate; while, on the other
hand, the gods of Homer, although personating human
passions, were likewise endowed with moral perceptions.
In them the blind forces of nature are lighted up into a
human-divine intelligence.

In Monotheism the distinct personalities, which to the
savage underlie every appearance, become wholly gen-
eralized, and the origin of all phenomena is referred to
one First Cause. The subtle and philosophic Greeks
well knew that God to be God must be omnipotent, and
omnipotency is indivisible. That the Aztecs could be-
lieve and practice the absurdities they did is less an ob-
ject of wonder, than that the intellectual philosophers of
Athens could have tolerated the gods of Homer. In-
deed, the religion of the more cultivated Greeks appears
to us monstrous, in proportion as they were superior to
other men in poetry, art, and philosophy.

Comparative mythologists explain the origin of wor-
ship by two apparently oppugnant theories. The first is
that whatever is seen in nature strange and wonder-
ful, is deemed by primitive man an object worthy of
worship. The other is, that upon certain noted indi-
viduals are fastened metaphorical names, symbolic of
some quality alike in them and in the natural object
after which they are called; that this name, which at
the first was but the surname of an individual, after its
possessor is dead and forgoiten, lives, reverts to the

24 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

plant or animal whence it came, becomes impersonal,
and is worshiped by a conservative posterity. In other
words, one theory fastens upon natural phenomena,
human attributes, and worships nature under covering
of those attributes, while the other worships in the
natural object only the memory of a dead and forgotten
man. I have no doubt that in.both of these hypotheses
are elements of truth.

In the earlier acts of worship the tendency is to
assimilate the object worshiped and the character of the
worshiper, and also to assign habitations to deities,
behind man’s immediate environment. Every people
has its heaven and hell; the former most generally lo-
cated beyond the blue sky, and the latter in the dark
interior caves of the earth. Man in nature reproduces
himself; invests appearances with attributes analogous
to his own. This likeness of the supernatural to the
natural, of gods to man, is the first advance from fetich-
ism, but as the intellect advances anthropomorphism
declines. As one by one the nearest mysteries are
solved by science, the emptiness of superstition becomes
apparent, and the wonderless wonder is referred by the
waking mind to general laws of causation; but still cling-
ing to its first conceptions it places them on objects more
remote. Man fixes his eyes upon the planets, discovers
their movements, and fancies their controlling spirit also
controls his destiny; and when released by reason from
star-worship, as formerly from fetichism, again an ad-
vance is made, always nearing the doctrine of universal
law.

In one tersely comprehensive sentence Clarke gives
the old view of what were called natural religions:
‘They considered them, in their suuree, the work of
fraud; in their essence, corrupt superstitions; in their
doctrines, wholly false; in their moral tendency, abso-
lutely injurious; and in their resu!t, degenerating more
and more into greater evil.”

And this view seems to him alike uncharitable and
unreasonable: ‘To assume that they are wholly evil is

PRIESTCRAFT AND PROPITIATION. 25

disrespectful to human nature. It supposes man to be
the easy and universal dupe of fraud. But these reli-
gions do not rest on such a sandy foundation, but on the
feeling of dependence, the sense of accountability, the
recognition of spiritual realities very near to this world
of matter, and the need of looking up and worshiping
some unseen power higher and better than ourselves.
We shall find them always feeling after God, often find-
ing him. We shall see that in their origin they are not
the work of priestcraft, but of human nature; in their
essence not superstitions, but religions; in their doc-
trines true more frequently than false; in their moral
tendency gond rather than evil. And instead of degen-
erating toward something worse, they come to prepare
the way for something better.”

The nearest case to deliberate invention of deities,
was, perhaps, the promulgation as objects of worship by
the Roman pontifis, of such abstractions as Hope (Spes),
Fear (Pallor), Concord (Concordia), Courage (Virtus),
etc. How far these gods were gods, however, in even
the ordinary heathen sense of the word, is doubtful. In
any case, they were but the extension of an old and ex-
istent principle—the personification of divine aspects or
qualities; they added no more to what went before than
a new Saint or Virgin of Loretto does to the Catholic
Church,

“Tt was a favorite opinion with the Christian apolo-
gists, Eusebius and others,’ says Gladstone, ‘‘that the
pagan deities represented deified men. Others consider
them to signify the powers of external nature personi-
fied. For others they are, in many cases, impersona-
tions of human passions and propensities, reflected back
from the mind of man. A fourth mode of interpreta-
tion would treat them as copies, distorted and depraved,
of a primitive system of religion given by God to man.
The Apostle St. Paul speaks of them as devils; by which
he may perhaps intend to convey that, under the names
and in connection with the worship of those deities, the
worst influences of the Evil One were at work. This

26 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

would rather be a subjective than an objective descrip-
tion; and would rather convey an account of the prac-
tical working of a corrupted religion, than an explanation
of its origi. or its early course. As between the other
four, it seems probable that they all, in various degrees
and manners, entered into the composition of the later
paganism, and also of the Homeric or Olympian system.
That system, however, was profoundly adverse to mere
Nature-worship; while the care of departments or prov-
inces of external nature were assigned to its leading
personages. Such worship of natural objects or ele-
mental powers, as prevailed in connection with it, was
in general local or secondary. And the deification of
heroes in the age of Homer was rare and merely titular.
We do not find that any cult or system of devotion was
attached to it.”

So humanly divine, so impotently great are the gods
of Homer; so thoroughly invested with the passions of
men, clothed in distinctive shades of human character;
such mingled virtue and vice, love and hate, courage and
cowardice; animal passions uniting with noble senti-
ments; base and vulgar thoughts with lofty and sub-
lime ideas; and all so wrought up by his inimitable
fancy into divine and supernatural beings, as to work
most powerfully upon the nature of the people.

These concrete conceptions of his deities have ever
been a source of consolation to the savage; for, by thus
bringing down the gods to a nearer level with himself,
they could be more materially propitiated, and their pro-
tection purchased with gifts and sacrifices, Thus the
Greeks could obtain advice through oracles, the Hindoo
could pass at ones into eternal joys by throwing himself
under the car of Juggernaut, while the latter-day offender
calls in the assistance of the departed, buys forgiveness
with charities, and compounds crime by building
churches,

The difficulty is, that in attempting to establish any
theory concerning the origin of things, the soundest
logic is little else than wild speculation. Mankind pro-

as Vv
clair

gene
mat

UNRECORDED FACTS SOON BECOME MYTHOLOGICAL. 27

gress unconsciously. We know not what problems we
ourselves are working out for those who come after us;
we know not by what process we arrive at many of our
conclusions; much of that which is clear to ourselves is
never understood by our neighbor, and never will be
even known by our posterity. Events the most material
are soon forgotten, or else are made spiritual and pre-
served as myths. Blot out the process by which science
arrived at results, and in every achievement of science,
in the steam engine, the electric telegraph, we should soon
have a heaven-descended agency, a god for every ma-
chine. Where mythology ceases and history begins, is
in the annals of every nation a matter of dispute.
What at first appears to be wholly fabulous may contain
some truth, whereas much of what is held to be true is
mere fable, and herein excessive skepticism is as un-
wise as excessive credulity.

Historical facts, if unrecorded, are soon lost. Thus
when Juan de Ofiate penetrated New Mexico in 1596,
‘Fray Marco de Niza, and the expedition of Coronado in
1540, appear to have been entirely forgotten by the
Cibolans, Fathers Crespi and Jun{pero Serra, in their
overland explorations of 1769, prcpsratory to the estab-
lishment of a line of Missions along the Californian
seaboard, could find no traces, in the minds of the natives,
of Cabrillo’s voyage in 1542, or of the landing of Sir
Francis Drake in 1579; although, so impressed were the
savages in the latter instance, that, according to the worthy
chaplain of the expedition, they desired ‘with submis-
sion and fear to worship us as gods.” Nor can we think
civilized memories—which ascribe the plays of Shake-
speare to Bacon, and parcel out the Iliad of Homer
among numberless unrecorded verse-makors—more te-
nacious, Frederick Augustus Wolf cienies that a Homer
ever existed; or, if he did, that he ever wrote his poem,
as writing was at that time not generally known; but he
claims that snatches of history, descending orally from one
generation to another, in the end coalesced into the
matchless Iliad and Odyssey. The event which s0

28 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

strongly impressed the father, becomes vague in the

mind of the son, and in the third generation is either .

lost or becomes legendary. Incidents of recent occur-
rence, contemporary perhaps with the narration, are
sometimes so misinterpreted by ignorance vr distorted
by prejudice, as to place the fact strangely at variunce
with the recital. Yet no incident nor action falls pur-
poseless to the ground. Unrecorded it may be, unwit-
nessed, unheard by beings material; a thought-wave
even, lost in space invisible, acting, for aught we know,
only upon the author; yet so acting, it casts an influence,
stamps on fleeting time its record, thereby fulfilling its
destiny. Thus linger vapory conceits long after the
action which created them has sunk into oblivion; unde-
fined shadows of substance departed; none the less im-
pressive because mingled with immortal imagery.

Turn now from outward events to inner life; from
events grown shadowy with time, to life ever dim and
mysterious alike to savage and sage. Everywhere man
beholds much that is incomprehensible; within, around,
the past, the future. Invisible forces are at work, in-
visible agencies play upon hiv destiny. And in the
creations of fancy, which of necessity grow out of the
influence of nature upon the imagination, it is not
strange that mysteries darken, facts and fancies blend ;
the past and the future uniting in a supernatural
present,

We are never content with positive knowledge. From
the earliest workings of the mind, creations of fancy
play as important a part in ethical economy as positive
perceptions. Nor does culture in any wise lessen these
fanciful creations of the intellect. In the political arena
of civilized nations, wars and revolutions for the en-
forcement of opinion concerning matters beyond the
reach of positive knowledge, have equaled if they have
not exceeded wars for empire or ascendancy, In the
social and individual affairs of life we are governed
more by the ideal than by the real. On reaching the
limits of positive knowledge, reason pauses, but fancy

nin
evel
ulti
will
the

the

and
larg
held
been
by a
adm
sion
as th
ter, 1
of fo
are f
ble.

RELIGIOUS AND SCIENTIFIC ULTIMATES. 29

overleaps the boundary, and war ‘ers forward in an end-
less waste of speculation.

The tendency of intellectual progress, accdrding to
the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, is from the concrete
to the abstract, from the homogeneous to the heteroge-
neous, from the knowable to the unknowable. Primor-
dially ncthing was known; as superstitions and priest-
craft grew rank, everything became known; there was
not a problem in the natural or in the supernatural
world unsolvable by religion. Now, when some ele-
ments of absolute knowledge are beginning to appear,
we discover, not only that little is positively known, but
that much of what has been hitherto deemed past con-
troverting, is, under the present régime of thought,
absolutely unknowable. Formerly ultimate religious
knowledge was attained by the very novices of religion,
and >ittmate scientific knowledge was explained through
‘hour te atieal conceptions, Not only were all the mys-
ieries cf the material universe easily solved by the
Fathers, but heaven was measured and the phenomena
of hell minutely described. Now we are just begin-
ning to comprehend that ultimate facts will probably
ever remain unknowable facts, for when the present
ultimate is attained, an eternity of undiscovered truth
will still Yay stretched out before the searcher, Until
the finite becomes infinite, and time lapses into eternity,
the realm of thought will remain unfilled. At present,
and until the scope of the intellect is materially en-
larged, such thezries as the origin of the universe—
held by atheists to be self-existent, by pantheists to have
been self-creatcu, and by theists to have been originated
by an externe! oyency—must remain, as they are now
admitted to be, ¢acstions beyond even the comprehen-
sion of the inwcNec!. _} i kewise scientific ultimates—such
as the qualities of tine and space, the divisibility of mat-
ter, the co-ordination of motion and rest, the correlation
of forces, the mysteries of gravitation, light and heat—
are found to be not only not ‘solvable, but not conceiva-
ble. And, as with the external, so with the inward

30 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

life; we cannot xonceive the nature, nor explain the
origin and duration, of consciousness. The endless spec-
ulations of biology and psychology only leave impres-
sions at once of the strength and weakness of the mind
of man; strong in empirical knowledge, impotent in
every attempt rationally to penetrate the unfathomable.
Nowhere in mythology do we find the world self-created
or self-existent. Some external agency is ever brought
in to perform the work, and in the end the structure of
the universe is resolved into it. >viginal elements,
Primordiai man finds himself surrounded by natural
phenomena, the operations of which his intelligence is
capable of grasping but partially. Certain appetites
sharpen, at cuce, certain instincts. Hunger makes him
acquainted with th. frnits of the earth; cold with the
skins of beasts. Ac: supplies him with rude im-
plements, and imparts . «im a knowledge of his power
over animals, But as instinct merges into intellect,
strange powers in nature are felt; invisible agents wield-
ing invisible weapons; realities which exist unheard and
move unseen; outward manifestations of hidden strength.
Humanity, divine, but wild and wondering, half-fed,
half-clad, ranges woods primeval, hears the roar of bat-
tling elements, sees the ancient forest-tree shivered into
fragments by heaven’s artillery, feels the solid earth rise
up in rumbling waves beneath his feet. He receives, as
it were, a blow from within the darkness, and flinging
himself upon the ground he begs protection; fro:i. what
he knows not, of whom he knows not. “Bury m2 not,
O tumultuous heavens,” he cries, ‘under the cleuds of
your displeasure!” ‘Strike me not down in wrath, O
fierce flaming fire!’ ‘‘Karth, be firm!” Here, then, is
the origin of prayer. And to render more effectual his
entreaties, a gift is offered. Seizing upon whatever he
rizes most, his food, his raiment, he rushes forth and
urls his propitiatory offering heavenward, earthward,
whithersoever his frenzied fancy dictates. - Or, if this
is not enough, the still more dearly valued gift of human
blood or human life is offered. His own flesh he freely

ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF PRIESTCRAFT. 31

lacerates; to save his own life he gives that of his
enemy, his slave, or even his child. Hence arises sac-
rifice,

And here also conjurings commence. The necessity
is felt of opening up some intercourse with these mys-
terious powers; relations commercial and social; calami-
ties and casualties, personal and public, must be traced
to causes, and the tormenting demon bought off. But it
is clearly evident that these elemental forces are not all
of them inimical to the happiness of mankind. Sun-
shine, air and water, the benign influences in nature, -
are as powerful to create, as the adverse elements are to
destroy. And as these forces appear, conflicting, part
productive of life and enjoyment, and’ part of destruc-
tion, decay, and death, a separation is made. Hence
principles of good and ‘evil are discovered; and to all
these unaccountable forces in nature, names and proper-
ties are given, and causations invented. For every act
there is an actor—for every deed a doer; for every
power and passion there is made a god.

Thus we see that worship in some form is a human
necessity, or, at least, a constant accompaniment of hu-
manity. Until perfect wisdom and limitless power are
the attributes of humanity, adoration will continue; for
men will never cease to reverence what they do not un-
derstand, nor will they cease to fear such elements of
strength as are beyond their control. The form of this
conciliatory homage appears to arise from common hu-
man instincts; for, throughout the world and in all
ages, a similarity in primitive religious forms has existed.
It is a giving of something; the barter of a valuable
something for a something more valuable. As in his
civil polity all crimes may be compounded or avenged,
so in his worship, the savage gives his pride, his prop-
erty, or his blood.

At first, this spirit power is seen in everything; in
the storm and in the soft evening air; in clouds and
cataracts, in mountains, rocks, and rivers; in trees, in
reptiles, beasts, and fishes, But when progressive man

82 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

obtains a more perfect mastery over the brute creation,
brute worship ceases; as he becomes familiar with the
causes of some of the forces in nature, and is better able
to protect himself from them, the fear of natural objects
is lessened. Leaving the level of the brute creation he
mounts upward, and selecting from his own species some
living or dead hero, he endows a king or comrade with
superhuman attributes, and worships his dead fellow
asa divine being. Still he tunes his thoughts to subtler
creations, and carves with skillful fingers material images
of supernatural forms. Then comes idolatry. The great
principles of causation being determined and embodied
in perceptible forms, adorations ensue. Cravings, how-
ever, increase. As the intellect expands, one idol after
another is thrown down. Mind assumes the mastery
over matter. From gods of wood and stone, made by
men’s fingers, and from suns and planets, carved by the
fingers of omnipotence, the creature now turns to the
Creator. A form of ideal worship supplants the mate-
rial form; gods known and tangible are thrown aside
for the unknown God. And well were it for the intel-
lect could it stop here. But, as the actions of countless
material gods were clear to the primitive priest, and by
him satisfactorily explained to the savage masses; so, in
this more advanced state men are not wanting who re-
ceive from their ideal god revelations of his actions and
motives, ‘To its new, unknown, ideal god, the partially
awakened human mind attaches the positive attributes
of the old, material deities, or invents new ones, and
starts anew to tread the endless mythologic circle; until
in yet a higher state it discovers that both god and attri-
butes are wholly beyond its grasp, and that with all its
progress, it has advanced but slightly beyond the first
savage conception ;—a power altogether mysterious, in-
explicable to science, controlling phenomena of mind
and matter.

Barbarians are the most religious of mortals. While
the busy, overworked brain of the scholar or man of
business is occupied with more practical affairs, the list-

untut
in the
voice,
into b
if ap
is sure

We
indeec
the ot!

ORIGIN OF FETICHISM. 83

less mind of the savage, thrown as he is upon the very
bosom of nature, is filled with innumerable conjectures
and interrogatories. His curiosity, like that of a child,
is proverbial, and as superstition is ever the resource of
ignorance, queer fancies and fantasms concerning life and
death, and gods and devils float continually through his
unenlightened imagination.

Ill-protected from the elements, his comfort and his
uncertain food-supply depending upon them, primitive
man regards nature with eager interest. Like the
beasts, his forest companions, he places himself as far as
possible in harmony with his environment. He migrates
with the seasons; feasts when food is plenty, fasts in
famine-time; basks and gambols in the sunshine, cowers
beneath the fury of the storm, crawls from the cold into
his den, and there quasi-torpidly remains until nature
releases him. Is it therefore strange that savage intel-
lect peoples the elements with supernatural powers; that
God is everywhere, in everything; in the most trifling
accident and incident, as well as in the sun, the sea, the
grove; that when evil comes God is angry, when fortune
smiles God is favorable; and that he speaks to his wild,
untutored people in signs and dreams, in the tempest and
in the sunshine. Nor does he withhold the still, small
voice, which breathes upon minds most darkened, and
into breasts the most savage, a spirit of progress, which,
if a people be left to the free fulfillment of their destiny,
is sure, sooner or later, to ripen into full development.

We will now glance at the origin of fetichism, which
indeed may be called the origin of ideal religion, from
the other standpoint; that which arises from the respect
men feel for the memory of their departed ancestors.

The first conception of a dualty in man’s nature has
been attributed to various causes; it may be the result of
a combination of causes. There is the shadow upon
the ground, separate, yet inseparable; the reflection of
the form upon the water; the echo of the voice,
the adventures of fancy portrayed by dreams, Self

Vou, II, 3

84 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

is divisible from and inseparably connected with this

other self. Herefrom arise innumerable superstitions; it

was portentous of misfortune for one’s clothes to be
stepped on; no food must be left uneaten; nail clippings
and locks of hair must not fall into the hands of an
enemy. Catlin, in sketching his portraits, often narrow-
ly escaped with his life, the Indians believing that in
their likenesses he carried away their other self.
And when death comes, and this other self departs,
whither has it gone? The lifeless body remains, but
where is the life? The mind cannot conceive of the
total extinguishment of an entity, and so the imagina-
tion rears a local habitation for every departed spirit.
Every phenomenon and every event is analyzed under
this hypothesis. For every event there is not only a
cause, but a personal cause, an independent agent behind
every consequence. Every animal, every fish and bird,
every rock and stream and plant, the ripening fruit,
the falling rain, the uncertain wind, the sun and stars,
are all personified. There is no disease without its god
or devil, no fish entangled in the net, no beast or bird
that falls before the hunter, without its special sender.

Savages are more afraid of a dead man than a live
one. They are overwhelmed with terror at the thought
of this unseen power over them. The spirit of the de-

parted is omnipotent and omnipresent. At any cost or.

hazard it must be propitiated. So food is placed in the
grave; wives and slaves, and horses and dogs, are slain,
and in spirit sent to serve the ghost of the departed;
phantom messengers are sent to the region of shadows
from time to time; the messengers sometimes even vol-
unteering to go. So boats and weapons and all the
property of the deceased are burned or deposited with
him. In the hand of the dead child is placed a toy; in
that of the departed warrior, the symbolic pipe of peace,
which is to open a tranquil entrance into his new abode;
clothes, and ornaments, and paint, are conveniently
placed, and thus a proper personal appearance guaran-
teed. Not that the things themselves are to be used,

THE WORSHIP OF DEAD ANCESTORS. 85

but the souls of things. The body of the chief rots,
as does the material substance of the articles buried
with it; but the soul of every article follows the soul of
its owner, to serve its own peculiar end in the land of
phantoms.

The Chinese, grown cunning with the great antiquity
of their burial customs, which require money and food
to be deposited for the benefit of the deceased, spiritual-
ize the money, by making an imitation coin of paste-
board, while the food, untouched by the dead, is finally
eaten by themselves.

But whence arises the strange propensity of all prim-
itive nations to worship animals, and plants, and stones,
things animate and inanimate, natural and supernatural?
Why is it that all nations or tribes select from nature
some object which they hold to be sacred, and which
they venerate as deity? It is the opinion of Herbert
Spencer that ‘‘the rudimentary form of all religion is
the propitiation of dead ancestors, who are supposed to
be still existing, and to be capable of working good or
evil to their descendants.” It istheuniversalcustom with
savage tribes, as the character of their members becomes
developed, to drop the real name of individuals and
to fix upon them the attribute of some external object,
by whose name only they are aftorwards known. Thus
a swift runner is called the ‘antelope,’ the slow of foot,
the ‘tortoise,’ a merciless warrior, the ‘wolf,’ a dark-
eyed maid may be likened to the ‘raven,’ a majestic
matron to the ‘cypress,’ And so the rivulet, the rock, the
dawn, the sun, and even elements invisible, are seized up-
on as metaphors and fastened upon individuals, according
to a real or fancied resemblance between the qualities
of nature and the character of the men. Inferiority
and baseness, alike with nobleness and wise conduct,
perpetuate a name. Even in civilized societies, a nick-
name often takes the place of the real name. School-
boys are quick to distinguish peculiarities in their fel-
lows, and fasten upon them significant names. A dull
scholar is called ‘cabbage-head,’ the girl with red ring-

86 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

lets, ‘carrots. In the family there is the greedy
‘pig, the darling ‘duck,’ the little ‘lamb.’ In new
countries, and abnormal communities, where strangers
from all parts are promiscuously thrown together, not un-
frequently men live on terms of intimacy for years with-
out ever knowing each other’s real name. Among miners,
such appellations as ‘Muley Bill, ‘Sandy,’ ‘Shorty,’
‘Sassafras Jack,’ often serve all the purposes of a name.
In more refined circles, there is the hypocritical ‘cro-
codile,’ the sly ‘fox,’ the gruff ‘bear.’ We say of the
horse, ‘he is as fleet as the wind,’ of a rapid account-
ant, ‘he is as quick as lightning.’ These names, which
are used by us but for the moment, or to fit occasions,
are among rude nations permanent—in many instances
the only name a person ever receives.

Sometimes the nickname of the individual becomes
first a family name and then a tribal name; as when
the chief, ‘Coyote,’ becomes renowned, his children
love to call themselves ‘Coyotes.’ The chieftainship
descending to the son and grandson of Coyote, the
name becomes famous, the Coyote family the domin-
ant family of the tribe; members of the tribe, in their
intercourse with other tribes, call themselves ‘coyotes,’
to distinguish themselves from other tribes; the head,
or tail, or claws, or skin, of the coyote ornaments the
dress or adorns the body; the name becomes tribal, and
the animal the symbol or totem of the tribe. After a
few generations have passed, the great chieftain, Coyote,
and his immediate progeny are forgotten; meanwhile
the beast becomes a favorite with the people; he begins
to be regarded as privileged; is not hunted down like
other beasts; the virtues and exploits of the whole
Coyote clan become identified with the brute; the af-
fections of the people are centered in the animal, and
finally, all else being lost and forgotten, the descendants
of the chieftain, Coyote, are the offspring of the veri-
table beast, coyote.

Concerning image-worship and the material represen-
tation of ideal beings, Mr. Tylor believes that ‘‘ when

genit
very j
sayin,
hence
and y
lous c
anime
throu;
into t

The
there |

’

ABSTT.ACT CONCEPTIONS, MONSTERS, AND METAPHORS. 37

man has got some way in developing the religious ele-
ment in him, he begins to catch at the device of setting up
9 puppet, or a stone, as the symbol and representative of
the notions of a higher being which are floating in his
mind.”

Primitive languages cannot express abstract qualities,
For every kind of animal or bird or plant there may be
a name, but for animals, plants, and birds in general, they
have no name or conception. Therefore, the abstract
quality becomes the concrete idea of a god, and the de-
scendants of a man whose symbolic name was ‘ dog,’
from being the children of the man become the child-
ren of the dog.

Hence also arise monsters, beings compounded of
beast, bird, and fish, sphinxes, mermaids, human-headed
brutes, winged animals; as when the descendant of the
‘hawk’ carries off a wife from the ‘salmon’ tribe, a totem
representing a fish with a hawk’s head for a time keeps
alive the occurrence and finally becomes the deity.

Thus realities become metaphors and metaphors reali-
ties; the fact dwindles into shadowy nothingness and
the fancy springs into actual being. The historical inci-
dent becomes first indistinct and then is forgotten; the
metaphorical name of the dead ancestor is first respected
in the animal or plant, then worshiped in the animal
or plant, and finally the nickname and the ancestor both
are forgotten and the idea becomes the entity, and the
veritable object of worship. From forgetfulness of primo-
genitor and metaphor, conceiving the animal to be the
very ancestor, words are put into the animal's mouth, the
sayings of the ancestor become the sayings of the brute;
hence mythological legends of talking beasts, and birds,
and wise fishes. To one animal is attributed a miracu-
lous cure, to another, assistance in time of trouble; one
animal is a deceiver, another a betrayer; and thus
through their myths and metaphors we may look back
into the soul of savagism and into their soul of nature.

That this is the origin of some phases of fetichism
there can be no doubt; that it is the origin of all reli-

88 SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

gions, or even the only method by which animal and
plant worship originates, I do not believe. While
there are undoubtedly general principles underlying all
religious conceptions, it does not necessarily follow, that
in every instance the methods of arriving at those funda-
mental principles must be identical. As with us 2 child
weeps over a dead mother’s picture, regarding it with
fond devotion, so the dutiful barbarian son, in order the
better to propitiate the favor of his dead ancestor, some-
times carves his image in wood or stone, which sentiment
with time lapses into idolatry. Any object which strikes
the rude fancy as analogous to the character of an indi-
vidual may become an object of worship.

The interpretation of myth can never be absolute and
positive; yet we may in almost every instance discover
the general purport. Thus a superior god, we may be
almost sure, refers to some potent hero, some primitive
ruler, whom tradition has made superhuman in origin and
in power; demigods, subordinate or inferior beings in
power, must be regarded as legendary, referring to cer-
tain influential persons, identified with some element or
incident in which the deified personage played a con-
spicuous part.

Although in mythology religion is the dominant ele-

ment, yet mythology is not wholly made up of religion,
nor are all primitive religions mythical. “There are
few mistakes” says Professor Max Miiller “so widely
spread and so firmly established as that which makes us
confound the religion and the mythology of the ancient
nations of the world. How mythology arises, necessarily

_ and naturally, I tried to explain in my former lectures,

and we saw that, as an affection or disorder of language,
mythology may infect every part of the intellectual life
of man. True it is that no ideas are more liable to my-
thological disease than religious ideas, because they
transcend those regions of our experience within which
language has its natural origin, and must therefore, ac-
cording to their very nature, be satisfied with metaphori-
cal expressions. Hye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither

ledge
active

FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS OF RELIGION. 89

} ~° it entered inio the heart of man. Yet even the

gions of the ancient nations are by no means inevi-
tably and altogether mythological. On the contrary, as:
a diseased frame pre-supposes a healthy frame, so a
mythological religion pre-supposes, I believe, a healthy
religion.”

The universal secrets of supernatural beings are wrap-
ped up in probable or possible fable; the elements of
physical nature are impersonated in allegories, and
arrayed in forms perceptible to the imagination; deities
are sometimes introduced into the machinery of the
supernatural in order to gratify that love for the mar-
velous which every attempt to explain the mysterious
forces of nature creates in the ignorant mind. Yet
it cannot truly be said that any form of religion, much
less any religion was wholly invented. Fanatics some-
times originate doctrines, and the Church sets forth its
dogmas, but there must be a foundation of truth or the
edifice cannot stand. Inventions there undoubtedly
have been and are, but inventions, sooner or later fall
to the ground, while the essential principles underlying

ligion and mythology, though momentarily overcome

‘wept away, are sure to remain.

fivery one of the fundamental ideas of religion ‘is of
indigenous origin, generating spontaneously in the
human heart. It isacharacteristic of mythology that the
present inhabitants of the world descended from some
nobler race. From the nobler impulses of fancy the
savage derives his origin. His higher instincts teach
him, that his dim distant past, and his impenetrable
future, are alike of a lighter, more ethereal nature; that
his earthly nature is base, that that which binds him
to earth is the lowest, vilest part of himself.

The tendency of positive knowlege is to overthrow
superstition. Hence as science develops, many tenets of
established religions, palpably erroneous, are dropped, and
the more knowledge becomes real, the more real know-
ledge is denied. Superstition is not the effect of an
active imagination, but shows rather a lack of imagination,

40

for we see that the lower the stage of intelligence, and
the feebler the imagination, the greater the superstition.
A keen, vivid imagination, although capable of broader
and more complicated conceptions, is able to explain the
cruder marvels, and consequently to dispel the coarser
phases of superstition, while the dull intellect accepts
everything which is put upon it astrue. Ultimate reli-
gious conceptions are symbolic rather than actual. Ul1-
timate ideas of the universe are even beyond the grasp
of the profoundest intellect. We can form but an ap-
proximate idea of the sphere on which we live. To form
conceptions of the relative and actual distances and
magnitudes of heaven!y bodies, of systems of worlds, and
eternities of space, the human mind is totally inadequate.
If, therefore, the mind is unable to grasp material visible
objects, liow much less are we able to measure the invisi-
ble and eternal.

When thereture the savage attempts to solve the prob-
lem of natural phenomena, he first reduces broad concep-
tions to symbolic ideas. He moulds his deity according
to the measure of his mind; and in forming a skeleton
upon which to elaborate his religious instincts, proximate
theories are accepted, and almost any explanation ap-
pears to him plausible. The potential creations of his
fancy are brought within the compass of his comprehen-
sion; symbolic gods are mou'ded from mud, or carved
from wood or stone; and thus by segregating an infi-
nitesimal part of the vast idea of deity, the worshiper
meets the material requirements of his religious con-
ceptions. And although the lower forms of worship are
abandoned as the intellect unfolds, the same principle
is continued. We set up in the mind symbols of the ulti-
mate idea which is too great for our grasp, and imagining
ourselves in possession of the actual idea, we fall into
numberless errors concerning what we believe or think.
The atheistic hypothesis of self-existence, the pantheistic
hypothesis of self-creation, and the theistic hypothesis of
creation by an external agency are equally unthinkable,
and therefore as postulates equally untenable. Yet un-

SPEECH AND SPECULATION.

CLASSIFICATION OF PACIFIC STATES’ MYTHS. 41

derlying all, however gross or superstitious the dogma,
is one fundamental truth, namely, that there is a prob-
lem to be solved, an existent mysterious universe to be
accounted for.

Deep down in every human breast is implanted a
religiosity as a fundamental attribute of man’s nature;
a consciousness that behind visible appearances is an in-
visible power; underlying all conception is an instinct
or intuition from which there is no escape, that beyond
material actualities potential agencies are at work; and
throughout all belief, from the stupidest fetichism to the
most exalted monotheism, as part of these instinctive con-
victions, it is held that the beings, or being, who rule
man’s destiny may be propitiated.

The first cry of nature is hushed. From time im-
memorial nations and peoples have come and gone,
whence and whither no one knows; entering existence
unannounced they disappear and leave no trace, save
perhaps their impress on the language or the mythology
of the world. Thus from historic fact blended with the
religious sentiments springs the Mythic Idea.

In the following chapters, [ have attempted, as far as
practicable, to classify the Myths of the Pacific States
under appropriate heads. In making such a classification
there is no uifficulty, except where in one myth occur
two or more divisions of the subject, in which case it
becomes necessary, either to break the narrative, or
make exceptions to the general rule of classifying. I
have invariably adopted the latter alternative. The
divisions which I make of Mythology are as follows: I.
Origin and End of Things; II. Physical Myths; ITI.
Animal Myths; IV. Gods, Supernatural Beings, and
Worship; V. The Future State.

CHAPTER II.

ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

Quicueé Creation-Myta—Aztgo Ortotn-Mytas—Tae Papacos—Monrezv-
MA AND THE Coyote—Tus Moquis—TuHe Great Sprper’s WEB OF THE
Prwas—Navayo anD Poresio CREATIONS—ORIGIN oF CLEAR LAKE AND
Lage Tinoz—Cuargya oF THE CaHRocs:-—Mount Suasta, THE Wia-
WAM oF THE GreaT Sprrnit—IpAHO Sprinas AND WaTER Fatts—How
Dirrerences In Lanauaegz Occurrep—YEHL, THE CREATOR OF THE
THLINKEETS—THE RavEN AND THE Dog.

Of all American peoples the Quichés, of Guatema-
la, have left us the richest mythological legacy. Their
description of the creation as given in the Popol Vuh,
which may be called the national book of the Quichés,!

1In Vienna in 1857, the book now best known as the Popol Vuh
was first brought to the notice of European scholars, under the following
title; Las Historias del Origen de los Indios de esta Provincia de Guatemala,
traducidas de la Lengua Quichd al Castellano para mas Comodidad de los
Ministros del 8S, Evangelio, eR. P. F, Francisco Ximenes, cura doctrinero
por el real patronato del Pueblo de 8. Thomas Chuila.—Ewactamente sequn
el texto espaol del manuscrito original que se halla en la biblioteca de !a
Universidad de Guatemala, publicado por la primera vez, y aumentado con
una introduccion y anotaciones por eb Dr C, Scherzer, What Dr Scherzer
sore in a paper read before the Vienna Academy of Sciences, Feb, 20th,
1856; and repeats in his introduction, about its author, amounts to this; In
the early part of the 18th century Francisco Ximenez, a Dominican Father of

ent repute for his sanreing Bp his love of truth, filled the office of curate
n the little Indian town of Chichicastenango in the highlands of Guatemala.
Neither the time of his birth nor that of his death can be exactly ascertained,
but the internal evidence of one of his works shows that he was engaged
upon it in 1721, He left many manuscripts, but it is Bunposed at
the unpalatable truths some of them contain with regard to the ill-treatment
of the Indians by the colonial authorities sufficed, as previously in the case
of Las Casna, to ensure their partial destruction and total suppression, What
remains of them lay long hid in an obscure corner of the Convent of the
Dominicans in Guatemala, and passed afterwards, on the supression of all

42

conqu

THE POPOL VUH. 48

is, in its rude strange eloquence and poetic originality,
one of the rarest relics of aboriginal thought. Although
obliged in reproducing it to condense somewhat, I have

the religions orders, into the library of the University of San Carlos (Gua-
temalu). Here Dr. Scherzer discovered them in June 1854, and care-
fully copied, and afterwards published as above the pasties treatise
with which we are now concerned. This, according to Father Ximenez him-
self, and according to its internal evidence, is a translation of a lileral copy of
an original book, written by onv or more Quichés, in the Quiché language, in
Roman letters, after the Christians had occupied Guatemala, and after the
real original Popol Vuh—National Kook—had been lost or destroyed—lite-
rally, was no more to be seen—and written to replace that lost book. ‘ Quise
trasladar todas las historias d la leira de estos indios, y tambien traducirla
en la lengua castellana.’ ‘Esto escribiremos ya en la ley de Dios en la
cristiandad, los sacaremos, porque ya no hay libro comun, original donde
verlo, Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., pp. 1, 4, 5. ‘Voilé ce que nous écrirons de-
puis (qu’on a promulgu¢) la parole de Dieu, et en dedans du Christianisme;
nous le reproduirons, parce qu’on ne voit plus ce Livre national,’ ‘Vne
x-chi-ka tzibah chupan chic u chabal Dios, pa Christianoil chic; x-chi-k’-
elezah, rumal ma-habi chic ilbal re Popo-Vuh,’ Brosseur de Bourbourg, Popol
Vuh, p. 5. The evidence that the author was Quiché will be found in
the numerous passages scattered through the narrative in which he
speaks of the Quiché nation, and of the ancestors of that nation as ‘our
people, ‘our ancestors,’ and soon, We pass now to what the Abbé Bras-
seur de Bourbo has to say about the book. He says that Ximenes
‘discovered this document, in the last years of the 17th bared A In
1855, at Guatemala, the abbé first saw Ximenez’ manuscript containing this
work. The manuscript contained the Quiché text and the Spanish curate’s
translation of that text. Brasseur de Bourbourg copied both at that time, but
he was dissatisfied with the translation, believing it to be full of faults owin
to the prejudices and the ignorance of the age in which it was made, as we
as disfigured by abridgments and omissions. So in 1860 he settled himself
among the Quichés and by the usp of natives joined to his own practical
knowledge of their language, he elaborated a new and literal translation,
(aussi littérale qu'il o été possible de la faire), Weseem justified then on
the whole in taking this document for what Ximenez and its own evidence
declare it to be, namely, a reproduction of an older work or body of Quiché
traditional history, written because that older work had been lost and was
likely to be forgotten, and written by a Quiché not long after the Spanish
conquest. One consequence of the last fact would seem to be that a tinge of
biblical expression has, consciously or unconsciously to the Quiché who
wrote, influenced the form of the narrative. But these coincidences may be
wholly accidental, the more as there are also striking resemblances to expres-
sions in the Scandinavian Edda and in the Hindoo Veda. And even if they
be not accidental, ‘much remains,’ adopting the language and the conclu-
sion of Professor Max Miller, ‘in these American traditions which is so
different from anything else in the national literatures of other countries,
that we may safely treat it as the genuine growth of the intellectual soil of
America,’ Chips from @ German Workshop, vol. i., p. 328, For the fore-
going, as well as further information on the subject see:—Brasseur de Bour-
urq, Popol Vuh, PR. 5-31, 195-231; S'il ewiste des Sources de i’ Hist, Prim.,
pp. 83-7; Hist, des Nat, Civ., tom, i, pp, 47-61; Xtmenez, Hist. Ind. Guat.,
bP. 5-15; Scherzer, in Silzungberichte der Akademie der Wissenshaften Wien,
Wth Feb,, 1856; Jdelps’ Spanish Conquest, vol. iv., pp. 455-6, Professor
Miiller in his essay on the Popol Vuh, has in one or two places misunder-
stood the narrative, There was no such creation of man os that ho gives
as the second, while his third creation is the second of the original,
Again, he makes the four Quiché ancestors to be the progenitors of

44 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

endeavored to give not only the substance, but also, as
far as possible, the peculiar style and phraseology of the
original. It is with this primeval picture, whose simple
silent sublimity is that of the inscrutable past, that we
begin :—

And the heaven was formed, and all the signs thereof
set in their angle and alignment, and its boundaries fixed
towards the four winds by the Creator and Former, and
Mother and Father of life and existence,—he by whom
all move and breathe, the Father and Cherisher of the
peace of nations and of the civilization of his people,—
he whose wisdom has projected the excellence of all that
is on the earth, or in the lakes, or in the sea,

Behold the first word and the first discourse. There
was as yet no man, nor any animal, nor bird, nor fish,
nor crawfish, nor any pit, aor ravine, nor green herb,
nor any tree; nothing was but the firmament. The face
of the earth had not yet appeared,—only the peaceful sea
and all the space of heaven. There was nothing yet
joined together, nothing that clung to anything else; no-
thing that balanced itself, that made the least rustling,
that made a sound in the heaven, There was nothing
that stood up; nothing but the quiet water, but the sea,
calm and alone in its boundaries: nothing existed; no-
thing but immobility and silence, in the darkness, in the
night.’
all tribes both white and black; while they were the parents of the Quiché
and kindred races only. The course of the legend brings us to tribes of a
strange blood, with which these four ancestors and their people were often
at war. The narrative is, however, itself so confused and contradictory
at points, that it is almost impossible to avoid such things; and, as a
whole, the views of Professor Miller on the Popol Vuh seem just and well
considered. Baldwin, Ancient America, pp. 191-7, gives a mere dilution of
Professor Milller's essay, and that without acknowledgment.

§ The original Quich¢ runs as follows: ‘ Are u tzihoxic vae ca ca tzinin-oc,
ca ca chamam-oc, ca tzinonic; ca ca zilanic, ca ca lolinic, ca tolona puch u
pa cah, Vae cute nabe tzih, nabe uchan,—Ma-habi-oo hun vinak, hun
chicop; tziquin, car, tap, che, abah, hul, civan, quim, qichelah; xa-utuquel
cah golic, Mavi calah u vach uleu: xa-utuquel remanio palo, u pah cah
ronohel, Ma-habi nakila ca molobic, ca cotzobic: hunta ca zilobic; ca mal
ca ban-tah, ca cotz ca ban-tah pa cah. X-ma qo-vi nakila golic yacalic; xa
remanic ha, xa lianio palo, xa-utuquel remanic; x-ma qo-vi nakilalo qolic,
Xa ca chamanio, ca tzininic ee genom, chi ugab.’

This passage is rendered by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg thus: ‘ Voi-
ci le récit comme quoi tout était en suspens, tout était calme et silencieux;

moindre
qui exis
Can | ses
te et le s
And
penso e1
e8 la pri
pescado
estaba e
mar rep’
nada, ni
Soot ’, ”
pit; solo
alguna |
ridad,
3° @u
serpent |
ou quet:
chose qt
Hist, des

THE QUICHE IDEA OF CREATION. 45

Alone also the Creator, the Former, the Dominator,
the Feathered Serpent,—those that engender, those
that give being, they are upon the water, like a
growing light. They are enveloped in green and
blue; and therefore their name is Gucumatz.’ Lo,
now how the heavens exist, how exists also the
Heart of Heaven; such is the name of God; it is
thus that he is called. And they spake; they con-
sulted together and meditated; they mingled their words
and their opinion. And the creation was verily after
this wise: Karth, they said, and on the instant it was
formed; like a cloud or a fog was its beginning. Then
the mountains rose over the water like great lobsters;
in an instant the mountains and the plains were visible,
and the cypress and the pine appeared. Then was the
Gucumatz filled with joy, crying out: Blessed be thy
coming, © Heart of Heaven, Hurakan, Thunderbolt.
Our work and our labor has accomplished its end.

The earth and its vegetation having thus appeared, it
was peopled with the various forms of animal life. And
the Makers said to the animals: Speak now our name,

tout était immobile, tout était paisible, et vide était 1’ immensité des cieux.
Voila done la premiére parole et le premier discours., I] n’y avait pas encore
un seul homme, pas un animal; pas d’oiseaux, de poissons, d’écrevisses,
de bois, de pierre, Me fondriéres, de ravins, d’herbe ou be bocages: seulement
le ciel existait. La face de la terre ne se manifestait pas encore: seule la
mer paisible était et tout l’espace des cieux, I] n'y avait encore rien qui fit
corps, rien qui se cramponnit A autre chose: rien qui se balancit, qui fit (le
moindre) frolement, qui fit (entendre) un son dans le ciel, I] n’y avait rien
qui existat debout; (il n'y avait) que l’eau paisible, que la mer calme et seule
cans ses bornes; car il n'y avait rien qui existdt. Ce n’ttait que l’immobili-
te et le silence dans les ténébres, dans la nuit.’ Popol Vuh,p. 7.

And by Francisco Ximenez thus; Este es su ser dicho cuando estaba sus-
penso en calma, en silencio, sin moverse, sin cosa sino vacio el cielo. Y esta
es la primera palabra y elocuencia; aun no habia hombres, animales, pAjaros,
pescado, cangrejo, palo, poet, hoya, barranca, paja ni monte, sino solo
estaba el cielo; no se manifestaba la faz de la tierrn; sino que solo estaba el
mar represado, y todolo del cielo; aun no habia cosa alguna junia. ni sonaba
nada, ni cosa alguna se meneaba, ni cosa que hiciera mal, ni cosa quu hiciera
‘*cotz,’? (esto es ruido en el cielo), ni habia cosa que estuviese parada en
pit; solo e) agua represada, solo la mar sosegada, solo ella represada, ni cosa
alguna habia que estuviese; solo estaba en silencio, y sosiego en la obscu-
ridad, y la Sooke,’ Hist. Ind, Guat., pp. 5-6.

3 ‘duoumate, littéralement serpent emplumé, et dans un sens plus ¢tendu,
serpent revitu de couleurs brillantes, do vert ou d’azur. Los plumes du guc
ou quetaal offrent également les deux tvintes, C'est exactment la mime
chose que quetzalcohuatl dans la langue mexiocaine,’ Brasseur de Bourbourg,
Hist, des Nat, Civ., tom. i, p, 50,

46 " ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

honor us, us your mother and father; invoke Hurakan,
the Lightning-flash, the Thunderbolt that strikes, the
Heart of Heaven, the Heart of the Earth, the Creator and
Former, Him who begets, and Him who gives being,—
Speak, call on us, salute us! So was it said to the animals.
But the animals could not answer; they could not speak
at all after the manner of men; they could only cluck,
and croak, each murmuring after his kind in a different
manner. This displeased the Creatc:s, and they said to
the animals: Inasmuch as ye can not praise us, neither
call upon our names, your flesh shall be humiliated; it
shall be broken with teeth; ye shall be killed and eaten.

Again the gods took counsel together; they determined
to make man. So they made a man of clay; and when
they had made him, they saw that it was not good. He
was without cohesion, without consistence, motionless,
strengthless, inept, watery; he could not move his head,
his face looked but one way; his sight was restricted, he
could not look behind him; he had been endowed with
language, but he had no intelligence, so he was consumed
in the water.

Again is there counsel in heaven: Let us make
an intelligent being who shall adore and invoke us.
It was decided that a man should be made of wood
and a woman of a kind of pith. They were made; but
the result was in no wise satisfactory. They moved
about perfectly well, it is true; they increased and mul-
tiplied; they peopled the world with sons and daughters,
little wooden mannikins like themselves; but still the
heart and the intelligence were wanting; they held no
memory of their Maker and Former; they led a useless
existence, they lived as the beasts live; they forgot the
Heart of Heaven. They were but an essay, an attempt
at men; they had neither blood, nor substance, nor
moisture, nor fat; their cheeks were shrivelled, their feet
and hands dried up; their flesh languished.

Then was the Heart of Heaven wroth; and he sent
ruin and destruction upon those ingrates; he rained upon
them night and day from heaven with a thick resin;

iy

and

DESTRUCTION AND RE-CREATION OF MAN. 47

and the earth was darkened. And the men went mad
with terror; they tried to mount upon the roofs and the
houses fell; they tried to climb the trees and the trees
shook them far from their branches; they tried to hide
in the caves and dens of the earth, but these closed their
holes against them. The bird Xecotcovach came to tear
out their eyes; and the Camalotz cut off their head; and
the Cotzbalam devoured their flesh; and the Tecum-
balam broke and bruised their bones to powder. Thus
were they all devoted to chastisement and destruction,
save only a few who were preserved as memorials of the
wooden men that had been; and these now exist in the
woods as little apes.‘

Once more are the gods in counsel; in the darkness,
in the night of a desolated universe do they commune to-
gether: of what shall we make man? And the Crea-
tor and Former made four perfect men; and wholly of
yellow and white maize was their flesh composed. These
were the names of the four men that were made: the
name of the first was Balam-Quitzé ; of the second, Balam-
Agab; of the third Mahucutah; and of the fourth, Iqi-
Balam.’ They had neither father nor mother, neither
were they made by the ordinary agents in the work of
creation; but their coming into existence was a miracle
extraordinary, wrought by the special intervention of
him who is preéminently The Creator. Verily, at last,
were there found men worthy of their origin and their
destiny; verily, at last, did the gods look on beings who
could see with their eyes, and handle with their hands,
and understand with their hearts. Grand of counte-
nance and broad of limb the four sires of our race stood
up under the white rays of the morning star—sole light
as yet of the primeval world—stood up and looked.
Their great clear eyes swept rapidly over all; they saw

4A long rambling story is here introduced which has nothing to do with
Creation, and which is omitted for the present,

5 Balam-Quitzd, the tiger with the sweet smile; Balam-Agub, the tiger of the
night; Mahuculah, the distinguished name; Iqi-Balam, the tiger of the moon.
‘Telle est la signification litt¢rale que Ximenez a donnée cle ces quatre noms,’
Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, p. 199.

48 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

the woods and the rocks, the lakes and the sea, the
mountains and the valleys, and the heavens that were
above all; and they comprehended all and admired ex-
ceedingly. Then they returned thanks to those who had
made the world and all that therein was: We offer up
our thanks, twice—yea verily, thrice! We have received
life; we speak, we walk, we taste; we hear and under-
stand; we know, both that which is near and that which
is far off; we see all things, great and small, in all the
heaven and earth. Thanks then, Maker and Former,
Father and Mother of our life! we have been created;
we are,

But the gods were not wholly pleased with this thing;
Heaven they thought had overshot its mark; these men
were too perfect; knew, understood, and saw too much.
Therefore there was counsel again in heaven: What shall
we do with man now? It is not good, this that we see;
these are as gods; they would make themselves equal
with us; lo, they know all things, great and small, Let
us now contract their sight, so that they may see only a
little of the surface of the earth and be content. There-
upon the Heart of Heaven breathed a cloud over the
pupil of the eyes of men, and a veil came over it as
when one breathes on the face of a mirror; thus was the
globe of the eye darkened; neither was that which was
far off clear to it any more, but only that which was near.

Then the four men slept, and there was counsel in
heaven: and four women were made,—to Balam-Quitzé
was allotted Caha-Paluma to wife; to Balam-Agab,
Chomiha; to Mahucuth, Tzununiha; and to Iqi-Balam,
Cakixaha.® Now the women were exceedingly fair to
look upon; and when the men awoke, their hearts were
glad because of the women.

Next, as I interpret the narrative, there were other
men created, the ancestors of other peoples, while the

6 Caha-paluma, the falling water; Chomi-ha or Chomih-a, the boantiful house
or the beautiful water; in the same way, Tzununiha may mean either the house
or the water of the humming-birds; and Cakiraha, either the house or the
bs of a aras [which are a kind of parrot). Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol

uh, p. 205,

return
ing the
no sun

grew u:
said, ne
their p
the Ser
ceived {
inasmuc
and fou
the acco

7‘ Arex
mavi qu’ets

et ne soute
visages ver,

sustento, aj
Ind, Guat.,
Or as |
Cuevas y sie
ve

THE QUICHES SET OUT FOR TULAN-ZUIVA. 49

first four were the fathers of all the branches of the
Quiché race. The different tribes at first, however, lived
together amicably enough, in a primitive state; and in-
creased and multiplied. leading happy lives under their
bright and morning star, precursor of the yet unseen sun.
They had as yet no worship save the breathing of the
instinct of their soul, as yet no altars to the gods;
only—and is there not a whole idyl in the simple words?
—only they gazed up into heaven, not knowing what they
had come so far to do!’ They were filled with love,
with obedience, and with fear; and lifting their eyes to-
wards heaven, they made their requests :—

Hail! O Creator, O Former! thou that hearest and
understandest us! abandon us not, forsake us not! O
God, thou that art in heaven and on the earth, O Heart
of Heaven, O Heart of Earth! give us descendants and a
posterity as long as the light endure. Give us to walk
always in an open road, in a path without snares; to
lead happy, quiet, and peaceable lives, free of all reproach.
It was thus they spake, living tranquilly, invoking the
return of the light, waiting the rising of the sun, watch-
ing the star of the morning, precursor of the sun. But
no sun came, and the four men and their descendants
grew uneasy: We have no person to watch over us, they
said, nothing to guard our symbols. So the four men and
their people set out for Tulan-Zuiva,® otherwise called
the Seven-caves or Seven-ravines, and there they re-
ceived gods, each man as head of a family, a god; though
inasmuch as the fourth man, Iqi-Balam, had no children
and founded no family, his god is not usually taken into
the account. Balam-Quitzé received the Tohil; Ba-.

7‘ Are ma-habi chi taukun, qui coon; xavi chi cah chi qui pacaba qui vach;
mavi qu’etaam x-e be-vi naht x-qui bano,’ ‘ Alors ils ne sprvaient pas encore
et ne soutenaient point bi autels des dieux) ; seulement ils tournaient leurs
visages vers le ciel, et ils ne savaient ce qu’ils étaient venus faire si loin.’
Brasseur de Bourdourg, Popol Vuh, p. 209. It is right to add, however, that
Ximenez gives a much more pron? turn to the passage: ‘No cabian de
ments, Pat que levantaban las caras al cielo y no se.sabian alejar.'’ Hist.

Or as Ximenes, Hist, Ind, Guat., p. 87, writes it,—Tulanst, (las siete

cuevas y siete barrancas).
Vou, Ill. 4 .

50 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

lam Agab received the god Avilix; and Mahucutah re-
ceived the god Hacavitz; all very powerful gods, but Tohil
seems to have been the chief, and in a general way, god

-of the whole Quiché nation. Other people received gods

at the same time; and it had been for all a long march
to Tulan.

Now the Quichés had as yet no fire, and as Tulan
was a much colder climate than the happy eastern land
they had left, they soon began to feel the want of it.
The god Tohil who was the creator of fire had some in his
possession; so to him, as was most natural, the Quichés
applied, and Tohil in some way supplied them with fire.

But shortly after, there fell a great rain that extin-
guished all the fires of the land; and much hail also fell
on the heads of the people; and because of the rain and
the hail, their fires were utterly scattered and put out.
Then Tohil created fire again by stamping with his
sandal. Several times thus fire failed them, but Tohil
always renewed it. Many other trials also they under-
went in Tulan, famines and such things, and a general
dampness and cold,—for the earth was moist, there being
as yet no sun.

Here also the language of all the families was confused
so that no one of the first four men could any longer un-
derstand the speech of another. This also made them
very sad. They determined to leave Tulan; and the
greater part of them, under the guardianship and direc-
tion of Tohil, set out to see where they should take up their
abode. They continued on their way amid the most
extreme hardships for want of food; sustaining them-
selves at one time upon the mere smell of their staves,
and by imagining that they were eating, when in verity
and in truth, they ate nothing. Their heart, indeed, it
is again and again said, was almost broken by affliction.
Poor wanderers! they had a cruel way to go, many for-
ests to pierce, many stern mountains to overpass and a
long passage to make through the sea, along the shingle
and pebbles and drifted sand,—the sea being, however,

parted for their, passage.

QUICHE ORIGIN OF THE SUN. 51

At last they came to a mountain that they named
Hacavitz, after one of their gods, and here they rested,—
for here they were by some means given to understand
that they should see the sun. Then indeed, was filled
with an exceeding joy, the heart of Balam-Quitzé, of
Balam-Agab, of Mahucutah, and of Iqi-Balam. It seemed
to them that even the face of the morning star caught a
new and more resplendent brightness. They shook their
incense pans and danced for very gladness: sweet were
their tears in dancing, very hot their incense—their pre-
cious incense. At last the sun commenced to advance:
the animals, small and great, were full of delight; they
raised themselves to the surface of the water; they flut-
tered in the ravines; they gathered at the edge of the
mountains, turning their heads together toward that
part from which the sun came. And the lion and the
tiger roared. And the first bird that sang was that called
the Queletzu. All the animals were beside themselves at
the sight; the eagle and the kite beat their wings, and
every bird, both small and great. The men prostrated
themselves on the ground, for their hearts were full to
the brim.

And the sun, and the moon, and the stars were now
all established. Yet was not the sun then in the be-
ginning the same as now; his heat wanted force, and he
was but as a reflection in a mirror; verily, say the histo-
ries, not at all the same sun as that of to-day. Never-
theless he dried up and warmed the surface of the earth,
and answered many good ends.

Another wonder when the sun rose! The three tribal
gods, Tohil, Avilix, and Hacavitz, were turned into stone,
as were also the gods connected with the lion, the tiger,
the viper, and other fierce and dangerous animals. Per-
haps we should not be alive at this moment—continues
the chronicle—because of the voracity of these fierce ani-
mals, of these lions, and tigers, and vipers; perhaps to-
day our glory would not be in existente, had not the sun
caused this petrification.

And the people multiplied on this Mount Hacavitz,

‘62 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

and here they built their city. It is here also that they
began to sing that song called Kamucu, ‘we see.’ They
sang it, though it made their hearts ache, for this is what
they said in singing: Alas! We ruined ourselves in
Tulan, there lost we many of our kith and kin, they still
remain there, left behind! We indeed have seen the
sun, but they—now that his golden light begins to ap-
pear, where are they?

And they worshiped the gods that had become stone,
Tohil, Avilix, and Hacavitz; and they offered them the
blood of beasts, and of birds, and pierced their own ears
and shoulders in honor of these gods, and collected the
blood with a sponge, and pressed it out into a cup before
them.

Toward the end of their long and eventful life Ba-
lam-Quitzé, Balam-Agab, Mahucutah, and Iqi-Balam
were impelled, apparently by a supernatural vision, to
lay before their gods a more awful offering than the life
of senseless beasts. They began to wet their altars
with the heart's blood of human victims. From their
mountain hold they watched for lonely travelers belong-
ing to the surrounding tribes, seized, overpowered, and
slew them for a sacrifice. Man after man was ruissing in
the neighboring villages; and the people said: Lo! the
tigers have carried them away,—for wherever the blood
was of a man slain, were always found the tracks of
many tigers. Now this was the craft of the priests, and
at last the tribes began to suspect the thing and to fol-
low the tracks of the tigers. But the trails had been
made purposely intricate, by steps returning on them-
selves and by the obliteration of steps; and the moun-
tain region where the altars were was already vovered
‘with a thick fog and a small rain, and its paths flowed
‘with mud. 3

The hearts of the villagers were thus fatigued within
them, pursuing unknown enemies, At last, however, it
became plain that the gods Tohil, Avilix and Hacavitz
and their worship, were in some way or other the caus
of this bereavement: so the people of the villages con-

no i
Wives,
each

We r

THE END OF THE QUICHE CREATION. 58

spired against them. Many attacks, both openly and
by ruses, did they make on the gods, and on the four
men, and on the children and people connected with
them; but not once did they succeed, so great was the
wisdom, and power, and courage of the four men and of
their deities. And these three gods petrified, as we
have told, could nevertheless resume a movable sh:pe
when they pleased; which indeed they often did, as will
be seen hereafter.

At last the war was finished. By the miraculous aid
of a horde of wasps and hornets, the Quichés utterly de-
feated and put to the rout in a general battle all their
enemies. And the tribes humiliated themselves before
the face of Balam-Quitzé, of Balam-Agab, and of Mahu-
cutah: Unfortunates that we are, they said, spare to us
at least our lives. Let it be <0, it was answered, al-
though you be worthy of death; you shall, however, be
our tributaries and serve us, as long as the sun endure,
as long as the light shall follow his course. This was
the reply of our fathers and mothers, upon Mount Ha-
cavitz; and thereafter they lived in great honor and
peace, and their souls had rest, and all the tribes served
them there.

Now ii caiae to pass that the time of the death of
Balam-Quitzé, Balam-Agab, Mahucutah, and Iqi-Balam
drew near. No bodily sickness nor suffering came upon
them; but they were forewarned that their death and
their end was at hand. Then they called their sons
and their descendants round them to receive their last
counsels,

And the heart of the old men was rent within them.
In the anguish of their heart they sang the Kamucu,
the old sad song that they had sung when the sun first
rose, when the sun rose and they thought of the friends
the had left in Tulan, whose face they should see
no more for ever. Then they took leave of their
wives, one by one; and of their sons, one by one; of
each i particular they tock leave; and they said:
We return to our people; already the King of the

64 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

Stegs is ready, he stretches himself throtyh the heaven.
Lo, we are about to return; our work is done; the days
of our life are complete. Remember us well; let us
never pass from your memory... You will see still our
houses and our mountains; multiply in them, and then
go on upon your way an see again the places whence we
are come.

So the old men too) leave of their sons and of their
wives; and Balam-Quitzé spake again: Behold! he said,
I leave you what shall keep me in remembrance. I
have taken leave of you—and am filled with sadness,
he added. Then instantly the four old men were not;
but in their place was a great bundle; and it was never
unfolded, neither could any man find seam therein on
rolling it over and over. So it was called the Majesty
Enveloped; and it became a memorial of these fathers,
and was held very dear and precious in the sight of the
Quichés; and they burned incense before it.’

Thus died and disappeared on Mount Hacavitz Balam-
Quitzé, Balam-Agab, Mahucutah, and Iqi-Balam, these
first men who came from the east, from the other side of
the sea. Long time had they been here when they
died; and they were very old, and surnamed the Ven-
erated and the Sacrificers.

Such is the Quiché account of the creation of the
earth and its inhabitants and of the first years of the
existence of mankind. Although we find here described

® The following passage in a letter from the Abbé Brasseurde Bourbourg,
to Mr. Rafn of Copenhagen, bearing date 25th October, 1858, may be useful
in this connectiriu:—‘ On sait By la coutume toltéque et mexicaine était de
conserver, com me chez les chrétiens, les reliques des héros de la patrie: on
enveloppait leurs o8 avec des sb récieuses dans un paquet d’étoffes
auquel on donnait le nom de Tlaquimilolli; ces paquets demeuraient A ja-
mais fermés et on les déposait au fond des sanctuaircs ot on les conservait
comme des objects snerés.' Nouvelles Annales des oyugee, 1858, tom. iv., p.

. One of these ‘bundles,’ was given up to the Christians by a Tlasca-
Itec some time after the ponies. ¢ was reported to contain the remains of
Camaxtli, the chief god of Tlascala, The native historian, Camargo, de-

scribes it as follows; ‘ Quand on défit le paquet of se trouvaient les cendres

do ‘idole Camaxtle, on y trouva aussi un paquet de chevenx blonds,......

on y trouva aussi une émeraude, et de ses cendres on avait fait une pite,

* es pene aveo le sang des enfants que l'on avait sacrifice,’ Hist, de
ta "

n; in Nouvelles Annales des V'y., tom, xcix,, 1843, p. 179,

ascrib
flouri:
mous

very
assert

MEXICAN COSMOGONY. 55

in the plainest and least equivocal terms a supreme, all-
powerful Creator of all things, there are joined with
him, in a somewhat perplexing manner & number of
auxiliary deities and makers. It may be that those
whose faith the Popol Vuh represents, conceiving and
speaking of their supreme god under many aspects and
as fulfilling many functions, came at times, either un-
consciously or for dramatic effect, to bring this one
great Being upon their mythic stage, sustaining at once
many of his different parts and characters. Or per-
haps, like the Hebrews, they believed that the Creator
had made out of nothing or out of his own essence, in
some mysterious way, angels and other beings to obey
and to assist him in his sovereign designs, and that
these ‘were called gods.’ That these Quiché notions
seem foolishness to us, is no argument as to their adapta-
tion to the life and thoughts of those whe believed them ;
for, in the words of Professor Max Miiller, “the thoughts
of primitive humanity were not only different from our
thoughts, but different also from what we think their
thoughts ought to have been,” Be

Yet whatever be the inconsistencies that obscure
the Popol Vuh, we find them multiplied in the
Mexican cosmogony, a tangled string of meagre and
apparently. fragmentary traditions. There appear to
have been two principal schools of opinion in
Anéhuac, differing as to who was the Creator of
the world, as well as on other points,—two veins of
tradition, perhaps of common origin, which often seem
to run into one, and are oftener still considered as one
by historians to whom these heathen vanities were mat-
ters of little importance. The more advanced school,
ascribing its inspiration to Toltec sources, seems to have
flourished notably in Tezcuco, especially while the fa-
mous Nezahualcoyotl reigned there, and to have had
very definite monotheistic ideas, It taught, as is
asserted in unmistakable terms, that all things had been

10 Bee Cox's Mythology of the Aryan Nations, vol. i., p. 933,

56 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

made by one God, omnipotent and invisible; and to
this school were probably owing the many gentle and
beautiful ideas and rites, mingled with the hard, coarse,
and prosaic cult of the mass of the people.”

The other school may be considered as more distinc-
tively national, and as representing more particularly
the ordinary Mexican mind. To it is to be ascribed by
far the larger part of all we know about the Mexican
religion.” According to the version of this school, ‘T’ez-
catlipoca, a gcd whose birth and adventures are set
forth hereatter, was the creator of the material heaven
and earth, though not of mankind; and sometimes even
the honor of this partial creation is disputed by others
of the gods,

One Mexican nation, again, according to an ancient
writer of their own blood, affirmed that the earth had
been created by chance; and as for the heavens, they had
always existed.”

11 Even supposing there were no spscial historical reasons for making this
distinction, it seems convenient that such a division should be made in a
country where the distinction of classes was so marked as in Mexico, As
Reade puts the case, Martrydom of Man, p. 177, ‘In those countries where
two distinct classes of men exist, the one intellectual and learned, the other
illiterate and d ed, there will be in reality two religions, though nomi-
nally there may be only one,’

* Les age et les nobles de Mexico avaient péri presque tous lors de la
prise de cette ville, et ceux qui avaient échappé au massacre s’étaient réfu-

és dans des lieux inaccessibles, Ce furent donc presque toujours des gens

u peuple sans éducation et liveés aux plus grossi¢res superstitions qui
firent les récits Rtg nous ont transmis; Les missionnaires, d'ailleurs,
avaient plus d'intérét 4 connaitre les usages qu’ils voulaient déraciner de la
masse du peuple qu’a comprundre le sens plus élevé ‘ane la partie dclairée
de la nation pouvait y attacher.’ Ternaue-Compans, 4 sur la T'hdogonie
Mexicaine, in Nouvelies Annales des Voy,, tom. Ixxxv., 1840, ore.

13 This last statement rests on the authority of Dorsingo ufiog Camargo,
a native of the city of Tlascala who wrote about 1585, See his Hist, de
Tlaxcullan as translated by Ternaux Compans in the Nouvelles Annales
des Voy., tom. xcix., 1843, p. 129, ‘Les Indiens ne grayasens pas que le
monde eit été ¢éé, mais pensaient qu'il était le produi du hazard, Ils
disaient aussi que les cieux avaient toujours existé.’ ‘Estos, pues, alcangza-
ron con claridad el verdadero origen y principio de todo el Universo, porque
asientan que el cielo y la tierra y cuanto en ellos se halla es obra de la

yoderosa mano de un Dios Supremo y dnico, A quien daban el nombre de
To ue Nahuaque, que quiere decir, criador de todas las cosas, LiamAbanle
tambien Ipalnemohualoni, que quiere decir, por quien vivimos y somos,
y fué la nica deidad que adoraron en aquellos primitivos tiempos; y
aun despnes que se introdujo la idolatrin y el falso culto, le creyeron siem-
pre a ft todos sus dioses, y le invocaban levantando los ojos al cielo,

esta crevacia se mautuvieron constantes hasta la llegada de los es-

CHIMALPOPOOA MANUSCRIPT. 67

From the fragments of the Chimalpopoca manuscript
given by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg we learn that
the Creator—whoever he may have been—produced his
work in successive epochs. In the sign Tochtli, the
carth was created; in the sign Acatl was made the fir-
mament, and in the sign Tecpatl the animals. Man it is
added, was made and animated out of ashes or dust by
God on the seventh day, Ehecatl, but finished and per-
fected by that mysterious personage Quetzalcoatl.
However this account may be reconciled with itself or
with others, it ‘:r:her appears that man was four times
made and four times destroyed."

aiioles, como afirma Herrera, no solo los mejicanos, sino tambien los de

ichoacan.’ Veylia, Historia Antigua de Méjico, tom. i., PR. 7. ‘Los Tultecas
alcanzaron y supieron la creacion del mundo, y como el 'Tloque Nahuaque lo
crié y las demas cosas que hay en él, como son penta montes, animales,
faves, agua y peces; asimismo supieron como crid Dios al hombre y una mu-
ger, de donde los hombres descendieron y se multiplicaron, y sobre esto
aiiaden muchas fAbulas que por escusar prolijidad no se ponen aqui.’ Izilil-
wochitl, Relaciones, in Bipasbarough, vol. ix., p, 321.‘ Dios Criador, que en
lengua Indiana llamd Tloque Nahuaque, queriendo dar & entender, que este
Solo, Poderoso, y Clementissimo Dios,’ Boturini, Idea de una Hist., p. 79,
‘ Confessauan los Mexicanos a vn supremo Dios, Sefior, y hazedor ‘le todo, y
este era el principal que venerauan, mirando al cielo, llamandole crindor del
cielo y tierra.’ Herrera, Hist. Gen , dec, iii., lib. ii., cap. 15, p. 85. ‘El dios que
se Hamaba Titlacadon, (Tezcatlipuca), decian que era criador del cielo y de la
tierra y era todo poderoso,'’ Sahaqun, Hist. Ant. Mex., tom, i., Jib.iii., p, 241,
‘ Tezcatlipoca, questo era il maggior Dio, che in que’ paesi si adorava,

Sopp il Dio invisibile, o Supremo re, di cni abbiam ragionato........Era

il

ra, ed il Signor di tutte le cose,’ Clavivero, Storia Antiva del Messico, tom. ii.,

p.7. ‘La creacion del cielo y de la tierra aplicaban 4 diversos dioses, y al-
0)

0 della Providenza, l'anima del Mondo, il Creator del Cielo e della Ter-

gunos A Tezcatlipuca y 4 Uzilopuchtli, 6 segun otros, Ocelopuchtli, y de los
principales de Mexico,’ Mendieta, Hist, Keles., p. 81.

4 Loraque le ciel et la terre a’étaient faits, quatre fois déja l'homme avait
été formé, ...de cendres Dieu l’avait formé et animé.’ The Codex Chimal,
poca, or Chimalpo MS., after Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist, des Nat, Civ,,
tom, i,, p. 63, This Codex Chimalpopoca, so called by the Abbé Brasseur de
Bourbourg, is an anonymous mannerpt in the Mexican language. What
we really know of this much-talked-of document is little, and will be best
given in the organ form. The following is the first notice I find of this
eat with its appurtenances, being Boturini’s description of it as

ossessed at one time by him, Catdlogo, pp. 17-18, ‘Una historia de los
Reynos de Culhuadcan, y Mexico en lengua Nahuatl, y papel Européo do
Autor Anonrine y tiene aiiadida una Breve Relacion de los Dioses, y Ritos
de la Gentilidad en lengua Castellana quo escribid el Bachiller Don Pedro
Ponce, Indio Cazique Beneficiado, que tu del Partido de Tzumpahuacan,
BstA todo copiado de letra de Don Fornando de Alba, y le falta la primera
foja.’ With rogerd to the term Nahuatl used in this Catalogue, see id p, 00;
‘Los Manuscritos en lengua Nahuatl, que en este Catalogo se citan, se onti-
ende wer en lengua Mexicana!’ This manuscript, or a copy of it, fell into
the hands of the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg in the city of Mexico, in the
year 1850, Brasseur de Bourdoury, Bibliothique Mexlvo-Guatdmalienne, Intros

58 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

This may perhaps be looked upon as proceeding from
what I have called for convenience the Toltecan school,
though this particular fragment shows traces of Christian
influence. What follows seems however to belong to
a distinctively Mexican and ruder vein of thought. It
is gathered from Mendieta, who was indebted again to
Fray Andres de Olmos, one of the earliest missionaries
among the Mexicans of whom he treats; and it is de-
cidedly one of the most authentic accounts of such mat-
ters extant.

The Mexicans in most of the provinces were agreed

that there was a god in heaven called Citlalatonac, and -

a goddess called Citlalicue;” and that this goddess had
given birth toa flint knife, Tecpatl. Now she had many
sons living with her in heaven, who seeing this extraor-
dinary thing were alarmed, and flung the flint down to
the earth. It fell in a place called Chicomoztoo, that
is to say the Seven Caves, and there immediately
sprang up from. it one thousand six hundred gods.

hese gods being alone on the earth,—though as will
hereafter appear, there had been men in the world at
a former period,—-sent up their messenger Tiotli,
the Hawk, to pray their mother to empower them
to create men, so that they might have servants as be-
came their lineage. Citlalicue seemed to be a little

duction, p. xxi., and the learned Abbé describes it as follows: — ‘Codex
Chimalpopoca (Copie du), contenant les Epoques, dites Histoire des So-
leils et 1'Histoire des Royaumes de Colhuacan et de Mexico, texte Mexi-
cain (corrigé d'’aprés celui de M. Aubin), aveo un essai de traduction fran-
gaise en regard, gr. in 4°—Manusorit de 93 ff, copié et traduit par le signa-
taire de la bibliothdque. O’est la copie du dosument marqué au n° 13,
¢ viii, du catalogue de Boturini, sous le titre de: Historia de los Reynos de

Colhuacan y Mexico, eto. Ce document, ob pour la Fey et fois j'ai soulevé

le voile énigmatique qui revouvrait les symboles de la religion et de l'histoire
du Mexique et le plus important de tous ceux qui nous soient restés des an-
nales antiques mexicnines, Il renferme chronologiquement l'histoire géolo-
gique du monde, par siries de 13 ans, A commencer de plus de dix mille ans
avant l’ére chrétienne, suivant les caloula mexicains.’ Jd., p, 47,
15 Otherwise called, according to Clavigero, the god Ometeuctlt, and the
ddess Omecthuatl, Ternaux-Compans says: ‘Les noma d’Ometeuoctli et
‘Omecihuatl ne se trouvent nulle part ailleurs dans la mythologie mexicaine;
mais on pourrait les expliquer fv 'étymologie. Ome signifie deux en mexi-
cain, et tous les auteurs sont d'accord pour traduire littéralemont lour nom
pes van sevgneee et deux dames,’ Nouvelles Annales dea Voy., tom, Ixxxvi.,
) pe 7

Appare:
followe

Ramusi

AZTEO CREATION-MYTHS. 50

ashamed of these sons of hers, born in so strange a
manner, and she twitted them cruelly enough on what
they could hardly help: Had you been what you ought to
have been, she exclaimed, you would still be in my com-
pany. Nevertheless she told them what to do in the mat-
ter of obtaining their desire: Go beg of Mictlanteuctli,
Lord of Hades, that he may give you a bone or some ashes
of the dead that are with him; which having received
you shall sacrifice over it, sprinkling blood from your
own bodies. And the fallen gods having consulted to-
gether, sent one of their number, called Xolotl,’* down
to hades as their mother had advised. He succeeded
in getting a bone of six feet long from Mictlanteuctli;
and then, wary of his grisly host, he took an abrupt de-
parture, running at the top of his speed. Wroth at this,
the infernal chief gave chase; not causing to Xoloti, how-
ever, any more serious inconvenience than a hasty fall
in which the bone was broken in pieces. The messenger
gathered up what he could in all haste, and despite
his stumble made his escape. Reaching the earth,
he put the fragments of bone into a basin, and. all the
gods drew blood from their bodies and sprinkled it into
the vessel. On the fourth day there was a movement
among the wetted bones and a boy lay there before all;
and in four days more, the blood-letting and sprinkling
being still kept up, a girl was lifted from the ghastly
dish. The children were given to Xolotl to bring up;
and he fed then on the juice of the maguey.” Increas-

16 Xolotl, ‘servant or page.'-- Molina, Vocabulario en lengua Castellana Mext-
cana, Not ‘eye’ as some scholinsts have it,

ap
followed.

of the Scottish emblem.

() Le
Doe., tom, i., p. m3. He similmente-cogliono le

engono jk, come que le 6, et
tii’ huomo del Signor C » in

60 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

ing in stature, they became man and woman; and trom
them are the people of the present day descended, who,
even as the primordial bone was broken into unequal
pieces, vary in size and shape. The name of this first
man was Iztacmixcuatl, and the name of his wife llan-
cueitl,’® and they had six sons born to them, whose de-
scendants, with their god-masters, in process of time
moved eastward from their original home, almost uni-
versally described as having been towards Jalisco.

Now there had been no sun in existence for many
years; so the gods being assembled in a place called
Teotihuacan, six leagues from Mexico, and gathered at
the time round a great fire, told their devotees that he
of them who should first cast himself into that fire,
should have the honor of being transformed into a sun.
So one of them called Nanahuatzin,—either as most
say, out of pure bravery, or as Sahagun relates, because
his life had become a burden to him through a syphilitic
disease,—flung himself into the fire. Then the gods
began to peer through the gloom in all directions for the
expected light and to make bets as to what part of
heaven he should first appear in. And some said Here,
and some said There; but when the sun rose they were
all proved wrong, for not one of them had fixed upon the
east.” And in that same hour, though they knew it

18 Motolinia in Icazbalceta, Col. tom. i., pp. 6-10, says this first man and
woman were begotten between the rain and the dust of the earth—‘ engendrada
de ln Mluvia y del polvo de la tierra’--and in other ways adds to the per-

lexity; so that I am well inclined to agree with Miller, Amerikanische Urre-
Ratonsn, . 618, when he says these cosmogonical ae display marks of
local origin and of the subsequent fusion of several legends into an incon-
gruous whole, ‘Aus dieser Menge von Verschiedenheiten in diesen Kos-
mogonien ist ersichtlich, dass viele Lokalmythen hier wie in Peru unabhin-
gig von einander entstanden die man dusserlich mit einander verband, die
aber in mancherlei Widerspriichen auch noch spiter ihre urspringliche Un-
abhdngigkeit zu erkennen geben.’

19 Here, as elsewhere in this legend we follow Andres de Olmos’ account as
given by Mendieta, mabaqus, however differs from it a good deal in places,

t this point for example, he mentions some notable personages who guessed
ht about the rising of the sun:—' Otros se pusieron 4 mirar dcin el oriente,
igeron aqui, de esta parte ha de salir el Sol. El dichode estos fud verda-

Pes Dicen que los que miraron cia el Oriente, fueron Quetzalcoatl, que
tambien se llama Ecatl, y otro que se llama Totec, y por otro nombre Anaoatly-
tecu, y por otro nombre Tlatavictezcatlipuca, y o' que se Haman Miniz-
coa,’ or as in Kingsbo.ough's edition, Mex, Antig, vol. vii, p. 186. ‘por

ot!

HOW THE SUN WAS PLACED IN THE HEAVENS. 61

not, the decree went forth that they should all die by
sacrifice.

The sun had risen indeed, and with a glory of the
cruel fire about him that not even the eyes of the gods
could endure; but he moved not. ‘There he lay on the
horizon; and when the deities sent Tlotli their messenger
to him, with orders that he should go on upon his way,
his ominous answer was, that he would never leave that
place till he had destroyed and put an end to them all.
‘Then a great fear fell upon some, while others were moved
only to anger; and among the latter was one Citli, who im-
mediately strung his bow and advanced against the glit-
tering enemy. By quickly lowering his head the Sun
avoided the first arrow shot at him; but the second and
third had attained his body in quick succession, when,
filled with fury, he seized the last and launched it back
upon his assailant. And the brave Citli laid shaft to
string nevermore, for the arrow of the sun pierced his
forehead.

Then all was dismay in the assembly of the gods, and
despair filled their heart, for they saw that they could
not prevail against the shining one; and they agreed to
die, and to cut themselves open through the breast.
Xolotl was appointed minister, and he killed his
companions one by one, and last of all he slew himself
also.” So they died like gods; and each left to the sad
and wondering men who were his servants, his garments
for a memorial. And these servants made up, each
party, a bundle of the raiment that had been left to

otro nombre Anaoatl y Tecnu, y por otro nombre Tlatavictezcatlipuca, y otros

ue se llaman Mimizcoa, que son inumerables; y cuatro mugeres, la una #6
lama Tiacapan, la otra Teicu, la tercera Tlacoeoa, la cuarta Xocoyotl.’ Saha-
gun, Hist, Gen,, tom, ii., lib. viii., p, 248,

% Besides differences of authorities already noticed, I may add that Sa-
hagun describes the personage who became the sun,—ns well as him who,
ag we shall soon see, became the moon,—as belonging before his transfor-
mation to the number of the gods, and not as one of the men who served
them. Further, in recounting the death of the gods, Sahagun says that to
the Air, Ecatl, Quetza'contl, was alloted the task of xiiting the rest; nor doer
it appear that Quetzalcoat! killed himdelf. As to Xolotl, he plays quite a
cowardly part in this version; trying to elude his death, he transformed him-
se'f into various things, and was only at last taken and killed under the form
of a fish called Avoloti,

62 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

them, binding it about a stick into which they had hed-’
ded a small green stone to serve as a heart. These bun-
dles were called tlaquimilloh, and each bore the name of
that god whose memorial it was; and these things were
more reverenced thin the ordinary gods of stone and
wood of the country. Fray Andres de Olmos found one
of these relics in Tlalmanalco, wrapped up in many
cloths, and half rotten with being kept hid so long.”

Immediately on the death of the gods the sun be-
gan his motion in the heavens; and a man called Te-
cuzistecatl,; or Tezcociztecatl, who, when Nanahuatzin
leaped into the fire, had retired into a cave, now
emerged from his concealment as the moon. Others
say that instead of going into a cave, this Tecuzis-
tecatl, had leaped into the fire after Nanahuatzin,
but that, the heat of the fire being somewhat abated,
he had come out less brilliant than the sun. Still
another variation is, that the sun and moon came
out equally bright, but this not seeming good to the gods,
one of them took a rabbit by the heels and slung it into
the face of the moon, dimming its lustre with a blotch
whose mark may be seen to this day.

After the gods had died in the way herein related,
leaving their garments behind as relics, those servants
went about everywhere, bearing these relics like bundles
upon their shoulders, very sad and pensive and wonder-
ing if ever again they would see their departed gods.
Now the name of one of these deceased deities was 'Tez-
catlipoca, and his servant having arrived at the sea
coast, was favored with an apparition of his master in
three different shapes. And Teneatlipoca spake to his
servant saying: Come hither, thou that lovest me so well,
that I may tell thee what thou hast to do. Go now to
the House of the Sun and fetch thence singers and in-
struments so that thou mayest make me a festival; but
first call upon the whale, and upon the siren, and upon
the tortoise, and they shall make thee a bridge to the sun.

#! This kind of idol answers eneently to the mysterious ‘Envelope’ of
the Quiché myth, See also note 9

THE TEZOUCAN ACCOUNT OF THE CREATION. 63

Then was all this done; and the messenger went
across the sea upon his living bridge, towards the House
of the Sun, singing what he had to say. And the Sun
heard the song, and he straitly charged his people and
servants, saying: See now that ye make no response to
this chant, for whoever replies to it must be taken away
by the singer. But the song was so exceeding sweet

.that some of them could not but answer, and they were

lured away, bearing with them the drum, teponadli, and
the kettle-drum, vevel. Such was the origin of the
festivals and the dances to the gods; and the songs sung
during these dances they held as prayers, singing them
always with great accuracy of intonation and time.

In their oral traditions, the Tezcucans agreed with the
usual Mexican account of creation—the falling of the
flint from heaven to earth, and so on—but what they after-
ward showed in a picture, and explained to Fray Andres
de Olmos as the manner of the creation of mankind, was
this: The event took place in the land of Aculma, on
the Tezcucan boundary at a distance of two leagues from
Tezcuco and of five from Mexico. It is said that the
sun, being at the hour of nine, cast a dart into the earth
at the place we have mentioned and made a hole; from
this hole a man came out, the first man and somewhat
imperfect withal, as there was no more of him than from
the arm-pits up, much like the conventional European
cherub, only without wings. After that the woman
came up out of the hole. The rest of the story was not
considered proper for printing by Mendieta; but at any
rate from these two are mankind descended. The name
of the first man was Aculmaitl,—-that is to say, aculli,
shoulder, and maié, hand or arm,—and from him the
town of Aculma is said to take its name.” And this ety-
mology seems to make it probable that the details of this
myth are derived, to some extent, from the name of the

% Besides the Chimalpopoca manuscript, the earliest summaries of the
Mexican creation-myths are to be found in Mendieta, Hist, Ecles., tes id

Sahajun, Hist. Gen., tom. i,, lib, iii, p. 233, tom. fi., lib. vii., p 250;
Boturint, Idea de una Hist., pp. 37-43; Tiorquemada, Monarg. Ind.. tom, 4. pp.
31-5, tom, fi., pp. 76-8; Clavigero, Storia Ant, det Messico, tom. il, pp, 8-10.

64 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

place in which it was located; or that the name of the
first man belonging to an early phase of the language,
has been misunderstood, and that to the false etymol-
ogy the details of the myth are owing.

As already stated there had been men on the earth
previous to that final and perfect creation of man from
the bone supplied by Mictlanteuctli, and wetted by the
gods with their own blood at the place of the Seven
Caves. These men had been swept away by a succes-
sion of great destructions. With regard to the number of
these destructions it is hard to speak positively, as on no
single point in the wide range of early American reli-
gion, does there exist so much difference of opinion. All
the way from twice to five times, following different
accounts, has the world been desolated by tremendous
convulsions of nature. I follow most closely the version
of the Tezcucan historian Ixtlilxochitl, as being one of
the earliest accounts, as, prima facie, from its origin,
one of the most authentic, and as being supported by «
majority of respectable historians up to the time of Hum-
boldt.

Of the creation which ushered in the first age we know
nothing; we are only told by Boturini, that giants then
began to appear on the earth. This First Age, or ‘sun,’
was called the Sun of the Water, and it was ended by
a tremendous flood in which every living thing perished,
or was transformed, except, following some accounts, one
man and one woman of the giant race, of whose escape
more hereafter. The Second Age, called the Sun of
the Earth, was closed with earthquakes, yawnings of the
earth, and the overthrow of the highest mountains.
Giants, or Quinamés, a powerful and haughty race still
appear to be the only inhabitants of the world. The
Third Age was the Sun of the Air. It was ended by
tempests and hurricanes, so destructive that few indeed
of the inhabitants of the earth were left; and those
that were saved, lost, according to the Tlascaltec. ac-
count, their reason and speech, becoming monkeys.

The present is the Fourth Age. To it appear to be-

Hew )

five Suns
that the

conseque’
the eating
and unde;
who has,

long inedi
Keles,, No
turpitude-
word with

THE AGES OR SUNS OF THE MEXICANS. 65

long the falling of the goddess-born flint from heaven,
the birth of the sixteen hundred heroes from that flint,
the birth of mankind from the bone brought from hades,
the tra::sformation of Nanahuatzin into the sun, the trans-
formation of Tezcatecatl into the moon, and the death of
the sixteen hundred heroes or gods. It is called the
Sun of Fire, and is to be ended by a universal conflagra-
tion.”

Connected with the great flood of water, there is a

%3 Tellilxochitl, Hist, Chichimeca in Kingsborough’s Mex. Antig., vol. ix., pp.
205-6. The same author, in his Relaciones, 1b. pp. 321-2, either through
his own carelessness or that of a transcriber, transposes the second and
third Ages. To see that it is an oversight of some sort, we have but to pass
to the summary he gives at the end of these same Relaciones, Ib., p. 459,
where the account is again found in strict hapennent with the version given
in the text. Camargo, Hist. de Tlax. in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., tom.
xcix., 1843, p. 132, giving as we may suppose the Tlascaltec version of the

eneral Mexican myth, agrees with Ixtlilxochitl as to the whole number of
Koes: following, however, the order of the error above noticed in the Rela-
cionss, The T ltec historian, moreover, affirms that only two of these
Ages are past, and that the third and fourth destructions are yet to come,
we Ternaux-Compans, Nouvelles Annales des Voy., tom. Ixxxvi., 1840, p. 5,
adopts this Tlascaltec account as the general Mexican tradition; he is fol-
lowed by Dr. Prichard, R:setvh2s, vol v., pp., 360-1. Dr. Prichard cites
Bradford as supporting the same opinion, bu bape spat? 4 as Bradford, Am.
Antiq., p. 323, follows Humboldt. Boturini, Jdea de una Hist., p. 3, and Clavi-
gero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 57, agree exactly with the text. The
Abb: Brasseur de i boii also accepts the version of three past destruc-
tions, S’il ewiste des Sources de l’ Hist. Prim., pp. 26-7. Professor J. G. Miil-
ler, Amerilcanische Urreligionen, pp. 510-12, admits that the version of three
past destructions and one to come, as given in the text, and in the order there
iven, ‘seems to be the most ancient Mexican version;’ though he decides to
ollow Humboldt, and adopts what he calls the ‘latest and fullest form of the
myth.’ The Spieqazione Tavole del Codice Mexicano [ Vaticano ] contradicts
itself, giving first two past destructions, and farther on four, Kingsborough's
Mex. Antiq., vol. v., pp. 163-7; as does also the Explic. del Codex Telleriano-
Remensis, Ib., pp. 184-6. Kingsborough himself seems to favor the iden of
three past destructions and four ages in all; see Mex. Antiq., vol. vi., p. 171,
note. Gomara, Hist. Mex., fol. 297-8; Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, parte i.,
pp. 94-5; Humboldt, Vues., tom. ii., pp. 118-129; Prescott, Cong. of Mez.,
vol. i., p. 61; Gallatin, in Am, Ethnol. Soc, Transact., vol. i., p. 325,—de-
scribe four past destructions and one yet to come, or five Ages, and
the Chimalpopoca MS., see note 13, seems also to favor this opinion.
Laat), Mendieta, Hist. Eoles., P. 81, declares that the Mexicans believe in
five Suns, or Ages, in times past; but these suns were of inferior quality, so
that the soil produced its fruits only in a crude and imperfect state. The
consequence was that in every case the inhabitants of the world died through
the eating of divers things. This present and sixth Sun was good, however,
and under its influence all things were produced properly. orquemada—
who has, indeed, been all along appropriating, by whole chapters, the so
long inedited work of Mendieta; and that, if we believe Icazbalceta, Hist.
Evles., Noticias del Autor., pp. xxx. to xlv., under circumstances of peculiar
turpitude—of course gives also five past Ages, repeating Mendieta word for
word with the exception of a single ‘la.’ Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., p. 79.
Von, IT. 6

66 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

Mexican tradition presenting some analogies to the story
of Noah and his ark. In most of the painted manu-
scripts supposed to relate to this event, a kind of boat is
represented floating over the waste of water, and con-
taining a man and a woman. Even the Tlascaltecs, the
Zapotecs, the Miztecs, and the people of Michoacan are
said to have had such pictures. The man is variously
called Coxcox, Teocipactli, Tezpi, and Nata; the woman
Xochiquetzal and Nena.”

The following has been usually accepted as the ordi-
nary Mexican version of this myth: In Atonatiuh, the
Age of Water, a great flood covered all the face of the
earth, and the inhabitants thereof were turned into
fishes. Only one man and one woman escaped, saving
themselves in the hollow trunk of an ahahuete or bald
cypress; the name of the man being Coxcox, and that of
of his wife Xochiquetzal. On the waters abating a little
they grounded their ark on the Peak of Colhuacan, the
Ararat of Mexico. Here they increased and multiplied,
and children began to gather about them, children who
were all born dumb. And a dove came and gave them
tongues, innumerable languages. Only fifteen of the
descendants of Coxcox, who afterward became heads of
families, spake the same language or could at all under-
stand each other; and from these fifteen are descended
the Toltecs, the Aztecs, and the Acolhias. This dove
is not the only bird mentioned in these deluvial tra-
ditions, and must by no means be confounded with the
birds of another palpably Christianized story. For in
Michoacan a tradition was preserved, following which
the name of the Mexican Noah was Tezpi. With better
fortune than that ascribed to Coxcox, he was able to
save, in a spacious vessel, not only himself and his wife,

® Professor J. G. Miller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, p. 568, remarks of
these two perso it ‘Rein nordisch ist der chichimelische Coxcox, der
schon bei der Flu p Rope mannt wurde, der Tezpi der Mechoakaner. Das
ist auch ‘urepedinalion ¢ ein Wassergott und Fischgott, darum trigt er auch den
Namen Cipactli, Fisch, Teocipactli, géttlicher Fisch, Huehuetonacateoci-

pacili, alter cre. te von unserem Fleisch. Darum ist auch seine Gattin
eine Pflanzengdttin mit Namen Xochiquetzal d. h. gefliigelte Blume.’

aving
bald
hat of
, little
n, the
iplied,
n who
them
the
Aas of
nder-
fended
8 dove
1 tra-
th the
or in
which
better
ble to
a wife,

marks of
cox, der
pr. Das
huch den
acateoci-
B Gattin

THE TOWER OF BABEL. 67

but also his children, several animals, and a quantity of
grain for the common use. When the waters began to
subside, he sent out a vulture that it might go to and
fro on the earth and bring him word again when the dry
land began to appear. But the vulture fed upon the
carcasses that were strewed in every part, and never re-
turned. Then Tezpi sent out other |irds, and among
these was a humming-bird. And when the sun began to
cover the earth with a new verdure, the humming-bird
returned to its old refuge bearing green leaves. And
Tezpi saw that his vessel was aground near the moun-
tein of Colhuacan and he landed there.

The Mexicans round Cholula had a special legend,
connecting the escape of a remnant from the great del-
uge with the often-mentioned story of the origin of the
people of Andhuac from Chicomoztoc, or the Seven
Caves. At the time of the cataclysm, the country, ac-
cording to Pedro de los Rios, was inhabited by giants.
Some of these perished utterly; ct! +re were changed in-
to fishes; while seven brothers of them found safety by
closing themselves into certain caves in a mountain
called Tlaloc. When the waters were assuaged, one
of the giants, Xelhua, surnamed the Architect, went to
Cholula and began to build an artificial mountain,
ay a monument and a memorial of the Tlaloc that
had sheltered him and his when the angry waters swept
through all the land. The bricks were made in Tlama-
nalco, at the foot of the Sierra de Cocotl, and passed to
Cholula from hand to hand along a file of men—whence
these came is not said—stretching between the two places,
Then were the jealousy and the anger of the gods
aroused, as the huge pyramid rose slowly up, threaten-
ing to reach the clouds and the great heaven itself; and
the gods launched their fire upon the builders and slew
many, so that the work was stopped.” But the half-fin-

% Boturini, Idea de una Hist. pp. 113-4; Id., Catdlogo, pp. 39-40; Clavi-
gero, Storia Ant, del Messico, tom. i., pp. 129-30, tom. ii., p. 6; Spiegazione
delle Tavole del Codice Meaicano [ Vaticano] tav. vii., in Kingsboroujh's Mex-

Ant., vol. v., pp. 164-5; Gemelli Carreri, in Churchill’s Col. Voy., vol. iv., p.
481; Humboldt. i ‘4 ,

» Vues., tom. i., pp. 114-15, tom ii., pp., 175-8; Tylor’s dina,

68 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

ished structure, afterwards dedicated by the Cholultecs
to Quetzalcoatl, still remains to show how well Xelhua,
the giant, deserved his surname of the Architect.

huac, pp. 276-7: Gondra, in Pres.:ott, Conquista de Mexico, tom. iii., pp. 1-10.
A careful couparison of tise passazes given above will show that fe whole
stevy of the escape of Coxcox and Nis wife in a boat from a great deluge,
and of the distributicu by a bird of different languages to their descend-
ants, rests on the interpretation of certain Aztec paintings, containing sup-
posed pictures of a flood, of Coxcox ad his wife, of a canoe or rude vessel
of some kind, of the mountain Cuinuacan, which was the Mexican Ararat,
and of a bird voi langnages to a number of men. Not one of
the earliest writers on Mexicar mythology, none of those personally fa-
miliar with the natives and with their oral traditions as existing at the
time of, or immediately after the conquest, seems to have known this
legend; Olmos, Sahazun, Motolinia, Mendieta, Ixtlilxochiti, and Camargo,
are all of them silent with regard to it. ‘These facts must give rise to grave
suspicions with regard to the accuracy of the commonly accepted version,
notwithstanding its apparently implicit reception up to this time by the most
critical historians. These suspicions will not be lessened by the result of
the researches of Don José Fernando Ramirez, Conservator of the Mexican
National Museum, a gentleman not legs remarkable for his familiarity with
the language and antiquities of Mexico than for the moderation and calmness of
his critical judgments, as far as these are known. Ina communication dated
April, 1858, to Garcia y Cubas, Atlas Geoyrdficu, Estad‘stivo e Histérico de la Re-
publica Myicana, entrega 29, speaking of the celebrated Mexican picture
there for the first time, as he claims, accurately given to the public, —Sigiienza’s
copy of it, as given by Gemelli Cavervi, that given by Clavigero in his Storia cel
essico, that given by Humboldt in his Atlas Pittoresque, and that given by
Kingsborough being all incorrect, —Seiior Ramirez says:—The authority of
writers so competent us Sigiienza and Clavigero imposed silence on the in-
credulous, and after the illustrious Baron von Humboldt added his irresistible
authority, adopting that interpretation, nobody doubted that ‘‘ the traditions
of the Hebrews were found among the people of Americn;’’ that, as the wise
Baron thought, ‘‘ their Coxcox, Teocipactli, or Tezpi is the Noah, Xisutrus,
or Menou of the Asiatic families;’’ and that ‘the Cerro of Culhuncan is the
Ararat of the Mexicans.”’ Grand and ee ae thought, but unfortunately
only a delusion, The blue square No, 1, with its bands or obscure lines
of the same color, cannot represent the terrestrial globe covered with the
waters of the flood, because we should have to suppose a repetition of the
same deluge in the ‘on No, 40, where it is reproduced with some of its
rincipal accidents. either, for the same reason, do the human heads and
fhe heads of birds which appear to float there, denote the submerging of men
and animals, for it would be necessary to give the same explanation to those
seen in group No. 39. [t might be argued that the group to tho left (of
No. 1), made up of a human head placed under the head of a bird, repre-
sented phonetically the name Coxcox, und denoted the Aztec Noah; but the
group on the right, formed of a woman's head with other symboli: figures
above it, evidently does not express the name Xochiquetzal, which is said to
have been that of his wife.,... Let us now ~~ on to the dove giving tongues
to the primitive men who were born mute. The commas which seem to
come from the beak of the bird there represented, form one of the most com-
lex and varied symbols, in respect to their phonetic force, which are found
n our hieroglyphic ipo bs In connection with animated beings they
designate generically the emission of the voice, ...In the group before us they
denote purely and simply that the bird was singing or speaking—to whom?
—to the group of persons before it, who by the direction of their faces and
bodies show clearly and distinctly the attention with which they listened.
Consequently the designer of the bofore-mentioned drawing for Clavigero,

suished
interest
on thus
ing to a
Mexicar
miles fr
either w
tions of
connec
bird is 4
certain 4
‘Lot us |
interpret
hape att
8 painted
por! y
explained
various
though a
the subje
which Se
and learn
the serion

ecs
ua,

1-10.
hole
luge,
end-
sup-
vessel
rarat,
ne of
ly fa-
7 the
1 this
largo,
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exican
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picture
ienza’s
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atened,
hvigero,

THE MEXICAN DELUGE. 69

Yet another record remains to us of a traditional
Mexican deluge, in the following extract from the Chimal-
Manuscript. Its words seem to have a familiar
sound; but it would hardly be scientific to draw from
such a fragment any very sweeping conclusion as to its
relationship, whether that be Quiché or Christian :—
When the Sun, or Age, Nahui-Atl came, there had
passed already four hundred years; then came two hun-
dred years, then seventy and six, and then mankind
were lost and drowned and turned into fishes. The
waters and the sky drew near each other; in a single
day all was lost; the day Four Flower consumed 11]
that there was of our flesh. And this year was the year
Ce-Calli; on the first day, Nahui-Atl, all was lost. The
very mountains were swallowed up in the flood and the
waters remained, lying tranquil during fifty and two
spring-times, But before the flood began, Titlacahuan
had warned the man Nata and his wife Nena, saying:

pre-occupied with the idea of signifying by it the pretendc’ confusion of
tongues, changed with his pencil the historic truth, giving to these figures
opposite .lirections. Examining attentively the inexactitudes and errors of
the graver and the pencil in all historical engravings relating to Mexico, it is
seen that they are no less numerous and serious than those of the pro. The
interpretations given to the ancient Mexican paintings by ardent imagina-
tions led away by love of novelty or by the spirit of system, justify to a cer-
tain point the distrust and disfavor with which the last and most distin-
guished historian of the Conquest of Mexico (W. H. Prescott) has treated this
interesting and precious class of historical documents. Seilor Ramirez goes
on thus at some length to his conclusions, which reduce the original paint-
ing to a simple record of a wandering of the Mexicans among the lakes of the
Mexican valley,—-that sonmey beginning at a ie ‘not more than nine
miles from the gutters of Mexico,'—a record having absolutely no connection
either with the mythical deluge, already described as one of the four destrue-
tions of the world, or with any other, The bird *)eaking in the picture, he
connects with a well-known Mexican fable giver: b, Torquemada, in which a
bird is described as speaking from a tree to the leaders of the Mexicans at a
certain stage of their migration, and repeating the work T'ihui, that is to say,
‘Lotus go.’ A little bird called the Tihvitochan, with a cry that the vulgar still
interpret in a somewhat similar sense, is well known in Mexico, and is per-
haps at the bottom of the tradition, It may be added that Torquemada p en
a painted manuscript, possibly that under discussion, as his authority for the
story, The boat, the mountain, and the other adjuncts of the picture are
explained in a like simple way, ax the hieroglyphics, for the most part, of
various proper names. Our spave here will not permit further details,
though another volume will contain this picture and a further discussion of
the subject,—but I may remark in concluding that the moderation with
which Seilor Ramirez discusses the question, as well as his great experience
and learning in matters of Mvoxican antiquity, seem to claim for his views
the serious consideration of future students,

70 ORIGIN aND END OF THINGS.

Make now no more pulque, but hollow out to yourselves
a great cypress, into which you shall enter when, in the
month Tozoztli, the waters shall near the sky. Then
they entered into it, and when Titlacahuan had shut
them in, he said to the man: Thou shalt eat but asingle
ear of maize, and thy wife but one also. And when
they had finished eating, each an ear of maize, they pre-
pared to set forth, for the waters remained tranquil and
their log moved no longer; and opening it they began to
see the fishes. Then they lit a fire, rubbing pieces of
wood together, and they roasted fish. And behold the
deities Citlallinicué and Citlallatonaec looking down from
above, cried out: O divine Lord! what is this fire that
they make there? wherefore do they se fill the heaven
with smoke? And immediately Titlacahuan Tetzcatli-

@ came down, and set himself to grumble, saying:

hat does this fire here? Then he seized the fishes and
fashioned them behind and before, and changed them
into dogs.”

We turn now to the traditions of some nations situated
on the outskirts of the Mexican Empire, traditions dif-
fering from those of Mexico, if not in their elements, at
least in the combination of those elements. Following
our usual custom, I give the following legend belonging
to the Miztecs just as they themselves were accus-
tomed to depict and to interpret it in their primitive
scrolls :—"

In the year and in the day of obseurity and darkness,
yea even before the days or the years were, when the
world was in a great darkness and chaos, when the earth
was covered with water and there was nothing but mud
and slime on all the face of the earth,—behold a god
became visible, und his name was the Deer, and his sur-

% Brasseur ‘le Bourbourg, Mist. des Nat, Civ., tom. i., pp. 426-7.

7 Fr, G io Garoia, Urijen de los Ind., pp. 327-9. k this narrative
from a book he found in convent in Cuilapa, a little Indian town about a
league and a half south of Oajaca, The k had been comment by the
vicar of that convent, and—' escrito con sus Figuras, como los Indios de aque!
Reino Mixteco las tenian en sus Libros, ) Pergaminos arrollados, con la de-
claracion de lo que a aban las Figuras, en que contabun su Origen, la
Creacion del Mundo, i Diluvio General.

THE FLYING HEROES OF MIZTECA. 71

name was the Lion-Snake. There appeared also a very
beautiful goddess called the Deer, and surnamed the
Tiger-Snake.” These two gods were the origin and be-
gining of all the gods.

Now when these two gods became visible in the world,
they made, in their knowledge and omnipotence, a great
rock, upon which they built a very sumptuous palace, a
masterpiece of skill, in which they made their abode
upon earth. On the highest part of this building there
was an axe of copper, the edge being uppermost, and on
this axe the heavens rested.

This rock and the palace of the gods were on a moun-
tain in the neighborhood of the town of A poala in the prov-
ince of Mizteca Alta. The rock was called The Place
of Heaven; there the gods first abode on earth, living
many years in great rest and content, as in a happy and
delicious land, tiiough the world still lay in obscurity
and darkness.

The father and mother of all the gods being here in
their place, two sons were born to them, very handsome
and very j«:rned in all wisdom and arts. The first was
called the \\.nd of Nine Snakes, after the name of the
day on which he was born; and the second was called,
in like manner, the Wind of Nine Caves. Very daintily
mdeed were these youths brought up. When the elder
wished to amuse himself, he took the form of an eagle, fly-
ing thus far and wide; the younger turned himself into
a small beast of a serpent shape, having wings that he
used with such agility and sleight that he became invis-
ible, and flew through rocks and walls even as through
the air, As they went, the din and clamor of these
brethren was heard by those over whom they passed.
They took these figures to manifest the power that was in
them, both in transforming themselves and in resuming
again their original shape. And they abode in great peace
in the mansion of their parents, so they agreed to make

% * Que aparecieron visiblemente un Dios, que tuvo por Nombre un Ciervo,
i por sobrenombre Culebra de Leon; i wna Diosa mui linda, i hermosa, que su
, opie fue un Ciervo ' por sobrenombre Culebra de Tyre.’ Garcia, Id., pp.

72 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

a sacrifice and an offering to these gods, to their father
and to their mother. Then they took each a censer of
clay, and put fire therein, and poured in ground belejio
for incense; and this offering was the first that had ever
been made in the world. Next the brothers made to
themselves a garden, in which they put many trees,
and fruit-trees, and flowers, and roses, and odorous herbs
of different kinds. Joined to this garden they laid out
a very beautiful meadow, which they fitted up with all
things necessary for offering sacrifice to the gods. In
this manner the two brethren left their parents’ house,
and fixed themselves in this garden to dress it and to
keep it, watering the trees and the plants and the odor-
ous herbs, multiplying them, and burning incense of
powder of beleiio in censers of clay to the gods, their
father and mother. They made also vows to these gods,
and promises, praying that it might seem good to them
to shape the firmament and lighten the darkness of the
world, and to establish the foundation of the earth, or
rather to gather the waters together so that the earth
might appear,—as they had no place to rest in save only
one little garden. And to make their prayers more ob-
ligatory upon the gods, they pierced their ears and
tongues with flakes of flint, sprinkling the blood that
dropped from the wounds over the trees and plants of the
garden with a willow branch, as a sacred and blessed
thing. After this sort they employed themselves, post-
poning pleasure till the time of the granting of their de-
sire, remaining always in subjection to the gods, their
father and mother, and attributing to them more power
and divinity than they really possessed.

Fray Garcia here makes a break in the relation,—-that
he may not weary his readers with so many absurdities,
—but it would appear that the firmament was arranged
and the earth made fit for mankind, who about that time
must also have made their appearance. For there came
a great deluge afterwards, wherein perished many of the
sons and daughters that had been born to the gods; and
it is said that when the deluge was passed the human

THE DUEL WITH THE SUW. 73

race was restored as at the first, and the Miztec king-
dom populated, and the heavens and the earth estab-
lished.

This we may suppose to have been the traditional ori-
gin of the common people; but the governing family of
Mizteca proclaimed themselves the descendants of two
youths born from two majestic trees that stood at the en-
trance of the gorge of Apoala, and that maintained them-
selves there despite a violent wind continually rising
from a cavern in the vicinity.

Whether the trees of themselves produced these youths,
or whether some primeval Aisir, as in the Scandinavian
story, gave them shape and blood and breath and sense,
we know not. We are only told that soon or late the
youths separated, each going his own way to conquer
lands for himself. The braver of the two coming to the
vicinity of Tilantongo, armed with buckler and bow, was
much vexed and oppressed by the ardent rays of the
sun, which he took to be the lord of that district striv-
ing to prevent his entrance therein. Then the young
warrior strung his bow, and advanced his buckler before
him, and drew shafts from his quiver. He shot there
against the great light even till the going down of the
same; then he took possession of all that land, seeing he
had grievously wounded the sun, and forced him to hide
behind the mountains, Upon this story is founded the
lordship of all the caciques of Mizteca, and upon their
descent from this mighty archer their ancestor. Even
to this day, the chiefs of the Miztecs blazon as their
arms a plumed chief with bow, arrows, and shield, and
the sun in front of him setting behind gray clouds.”

Of the origin of the Zapotecs, a people bordering on
these Miztecs, Burgoa says, with a touching simplicity,
that he could find no account worthy of belief. Their
historical paintings he ascribes to the invention of the
devil, affirming hotly that these people were blinder in
such vanities than the Egyptians and the Chaldeans.

® Burgoa, Geog, Desorip,, tom i., fol, 128, 176,

74 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

Some, he said, to boast of their valor made themselves
out the sons of lions and divers wild beasts; others,
grand lords of ancient lineage, were producea by the
greatest and most shady trees; while still others of an
unyielding and obstinate nature, were descended from
rocks, Their language, continues the worthy Provincial,
striking suddenly and by an undirected shot the very
center of mythological interpretation,—their language
was full of metaphors; those who wished to persuade
spake always in parables, and in like manner painted
their historians.”

In Guatemala, according to the relations given to Fa-
ther Gerénimo Roman by the natives, it was believed
there was a time when nothing existed but a certain
divine Father called Xchmel, and a divine Mother called
Xtmana. To these were born three sons,” the eldest of
whom, filled with pride and presumption, set about a
creation contrary to the will of his parents. But he
could create nothing save old vessels fit for mean uses,
such as earthen pots, jugs, and things still more despicable ;
and he was hurled into hades. Then the two younger
brethren, called respectively Hunchevan and Hun-
avan, prayed their parents for permission to attempt the
work in which the:r brother had failed so signally. And
they were grante| leave, being told at the same time,
that inasmuch as they had humbled themselves, they
would succeed in their undertaking. Then they made
the heavens, and the earth with the plants thereon, and
fire and air, and out of the earth itself they made a man
and a woman,—presumably the parents of the human
race.

According to Torquemada, there was a deluge some
time after this, and after the deluge the people continued
to invoke as god the great Father and yao Mother

30 Burgoa, . Descrip., tol. 196-7.

% One of the Las Casas MSS, gives, according to Helps, ‘trece hijos’ in-
stead of ‘tres hijos;’ the latter, however, being the correct reading, as the
=> a in the same manuscript shows, and as Father Roman gives it.

note 3,

THE COYOTE OF THE PAPAGOS. 75

already mentioned. But at last a principal woman ™
among them, having received a revelation from heaven,
taught them the true name of God, and how that name
should be adored; all this, however, they afterward for-

t,.®
te Nicaragua, a country where the principal language
was a Mexican dialect, it was believed that ages ago
the world was destroyed by a flood in which the most
part of mankind perished. Afterward the teotes, or
gods, restocked the earth as at the beginning. Whence
came the teotes, no one knows; but the names of two
of them who took a principal part in the creation were
Tamagostat and Cipattonal.™

Leaving now the Central American region we
north into the Papago country, lying south of the Gila,
with the river Santa Cruz on the east and the Gulf of
California on the west. Here we meet for the first time
the coyote, or prairie wolf; we find him much more than
an animal, something more even than a man, only a
little lower than the gods. In the following Papago
myth” he figures as a prophet, and as a minister and as-
sistant to a certain great hero-god Montezuma, whom we
are destined to meet often, and in many characters, as a
central figure in the myths of the Gila valley :—

The Great Spirit made the earth and all living things,

® This tradition, says the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. des Nat.
Civ., tom. ii., pp. 74-5, has indubitably reference to a queen whose memo
has become attached to very many places in Guatemala, and Central Ameri-
ca generally, She was called Atit, Grandmother; and from her the volcano
of Atitlan, received the name Atital-huyu, by which it is still known to the
aborigines, This Atit lived during four centuries, and from her are descended
all the royal and princely families of Guatemala.

33 Roman, Repiiblica de los Indios Occidentales, part 1, lib. 2, cap. 15, after
fareia, Origen ie los Ind., pp. 329-80; Las Casas, Hist, Apologética, MS.,
cap, 235, after Helps’ Span, Cong., vol. ii., p. 140; Torquemada, Monarg.
vt th 3 ii, pp. 538-4; Brasseur de Bourboury, Hist. des Nat, Civ., tom. ii.,
pp. .

4 The first of these two names is erroneously spelt ‘ Famagoztad' by M.
Ternaux-Compans, Mr. Squier, and the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg; the
two latter perhaps led astray by the error of M. Ternanx-Compans, an error
which fret. appeased in that gentleman's translation of Oviedo. Oviedo,
Hiut, Gen, tom, iv., p. 40, Peter Martyr, dec. vi., cap. 4.

This tradition was ‘gathered principally from the relations of Con
Quien, the intelligent chief of the central Papagos.’ Davidson, in Ind. Aj.
R pt., 1865, pp. 131-3.

76 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

before hemademan. And he descended from heaven, and
digging in the earth, found clay such as the potters use,
which, having again ascended into the sky, he dropped
into the hole that he had dug. Immediately there came
out Montezuma and, with the assistance of Montezuma,
the rest of the Indian tribes in order. Last of all came
the Apaches, wild from their natal hour, running away
as fast as they were created. Those first days of the
world were happy and peaceful days. The sun was
nearer the earth than he is now; his grateful rays made
all the seasons equal, and rendered garments unneces-
sary. Men and beasts talked together, a common lan-
guage made all brethren. But an awful destruction
ended this happy age. A great flood destroyed all flesh
wherein was the breath of life; Montezuma and his
friend the Coyote alone escaping. For before the flood
began, the Coyote prophesied its coming, and Montezu-
ma, took the warning and hollowed out a boat to himself,
keeping it ready on the topmost summit of Santa Rosa.
The Coyote also prepared an ark; gnawing down a great
cane by the river bank, entering it, and stopping up the
end with a certain gum. So when the waters rose these
two saved themselves, and met again at last on dry land
after the flood had passed away. Naturally enough Mon-
tezuma was now anxious to know how much dry land
had been left, and he sent the Coyote off on four succes-
sive journeys, to find exactly where the sea lay toward
each of the four winds, From the west and from the
south, the answer swiftly came: The sea is at hand. A
longer search was that made towards the east, but at last
there too was the sea found. On the north only was no
water found, though the faithful messenger almost
wearied himself out with searching. In the meantime
the Great Spirit, aided by Montezuma, had again re-
peopled the world, and animals and men began to in-
crease and multiply. ‘To Montezuma had been allotted
the care and government of the new race; but puffed up
with pride and self importance, he neglected the most im-
portant duties of his onerous position, and suffered the

to the
Spanii
ated it
a vagu
thus’
This b
in the
deeds,
tenden
scholat
with e3
Antar,
of Pet
land, J
heroes
in the {
dil, Chi

LEGEND OF MONTEZUMA. 77

most disgraceful wickedness to pass unnoticed among the
people. In vain the Great Spirit came down to earth
and remonstrated with his vicegerent, who only scorned
his laws and advice, and ended at last by breaking out
into open rebellion. Then indeed the Great Spirit was
filled with anger, and he returned to heaven, pushing
back the sun on his way, to that remote part of the sky
he now occupies. But Montezuma hardened his heart,
and collecting all the tribes to aid him, set about build-
ing a house that should reach up to heaven itself. Al-
ready it had attained a great height, and contained many
apartments lined with gold, silver, and precious stones,
the whole threatening soon to make good the boast of its
architect, when the Great Spirit launched his thunder,
and Jaid its glory in ruins. Still Montezuma hardened
himself; proud and inflexible, he answered the thunderer
out of the haughty defiance of his heart; he ordered the
temple-houses to be desecrated, and the holy images to
be dragged in the dust, he made them a scoff and by-
word for the very children in the village streets. Then
the Great Spirit prepared his supreme punishment. He
sent an insect flying away towards the east, towards an
unknown land, to bring the Spaniards. When these
came, they made war upon Montezuma and destroyed
him, and utterly dissipated the idea of his divinity.”

endary Montezuma, whom we shall meet so often in the mythol-
ogy of the Gila va ey, must not be confounded with the two Mexican mon-
archs of the same title. The name itself would seem, in the absence of proof
to the contrary, to have been carried into Arizona and New Mexico by the
Spaniards or their Mexican attendants, and to have become gradually associ-
ated in the minds of some of the New Mexican and neighboring tribes, with
’ vague, mythical, and departed grandeur, The name Montezuma became
thus, to use Mr. Tylor’s words, that of the great ‘Somebody ' of the tribe,
This being once the case, all the lesser heroes would be gra rg 4 absorbed
in the greater, and their names forgotten. Their deeds would become his
deeds, their fame his fame. ‘There is evidence enough that this is a general
tendency of tradition, even in historical times. e pages of Mr, Cox's
scholarly and comprehensive work, The Mythology of the Aryan Nations, teem
with examples of it. In Persia, deeds of every kind and date are referred to
Antar. In Russia, buildings of every age are declared to be the work
of Peter the Great. All over Europe, in Germany, France, Spain, Switzer-
land, England, Scotland, Ireland, the epee of the oldest mythological
heroes Aguring in the Sagas, Eddas, and Nibelungen Lied have been ascribed
in the folk-lore and ballads of the people to Barbarossa, Charlemagne, Boab-
dil, Charles V., William ‘Tell, Arthur, Robin Hood, Wallace, and St. Patrick.

36 The lee

78 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

The Pimas,” a neighboring and closely allied people
to the Papagos, say that the earth was made by a cer-
tain Chiowotmahke, that is to say Earth-prophet. It
appeared in the beginning like a spider's web, stretching
far and fragile across the nothingness that was. Then
the Earth-prophet flew over all lands in the form of a
butterfly, till he came to the place he judged fit for his
purpose, and there he made man. And the thing was
after this wise: The Creator took clay in his hands, and
mixing it with the sweat of his own body, kneaded the
whole into a lump. Then he blew upon the lump till it
was filled with life and began to move; and it became
man and woman. This Creator had a son called Szeu-
kha, who, when the world was beginning to be tolerably
peopled, lived in the Gila valley, where lived also at the
same time a great prophet, whose name has been forgot-
ten. Upon a certain night when the prophet slept, he
was wakened by a noise at the door of his house, and
when he looked, a great Eagle stood before him. And
the Eagle spake: Arise, thou that healest the sick, thou
that shouldest know what is to come, for behold a deluge
is at hand. But the prophet laughed the bird to scorn
and gathered his robes about him and slept. After-
wards the Eagle came again and warned him of the
waters near at hand; but he gave no ear to the bird at
all. Perhaps he would not listen because this Eagle had
an exceedingly bad reputation among men, being re-
ported to take at times the form of an old woman that
lured away girls and children to a certain cliff so that
they were never seen again; of this, however, more anon.
A third time, the Eagle came to warn the prophet, and
to say that all the valley of the Gila should be laid waste
with water; but the prophet gave no heed. Then, in

The connection of the name of Montezuma with ancient buildings and legend-
ary adventures in the mythology of the Gila valley seems to be simply an-
other example of the same kind.

37 I am indebted for these Pigtegioe of the belief of the Pimas to the
kindness of Mr. J. H. Stout of the Pima agency, who procured me a per-
sonal interview with five chiefs of that nation, and their very intelligent and
obliging interpreter, Mr. Walker, at San Francisco, in October, 1873,

small §
renewe

39 VN
thing n
of the 1
existed
modifie
of their
them, a

DELUGE OF THE PIMAS. 79

the twinkling of an eye, and even as the flapping of the
Eagle's wings died away into the night, there came a
peal of thunder and an awful crash; and a green mound
of water reared itself over the plain. It seemed to stand
upright for a second, then, cut incessantly by the light-

nng, goaded on like a gret beast, it flung itself upon the
prophet'shut. When the morning broke there was noth-
ing to be seen alive but one man—if indeed he were a
man; Szeukha, the son of the Creator, had saved himself
by floating on a ball of gum or resin. On the waters fall-
ing a little, he landed near the mouth of the Salt River,
upon a mountain where there is a cave that can still be
seen, together with the tools and utensils Szeukha used
while he lived there. Szeukha was very angry with
the Great Eagle, who he probably thought had had more
to do with bringing on the flood than appears in the
narrative. At any rate the general reputation of the
bird was sufficiently bad, and Szeukha prepared a kind
of rope ladder from a very tough species of tree, much
like woodbine, with the aid of which he climbed up to
the cliff where the Eagle lived, and slew him.® Looking
about here, he found the mutilated and decaying bodies of
a great multitude of those that the Eagle had stolen and
taken for a prey; and he raised them all to life again and
sent them away to repeople the earth. In the house or
den of the Eagle, he found a woman that the monster had
taken to wife, and a child. These he sent also upon
their way, and from these are descended that great peo-
ple called Hohocam, ‘ancients or grandfathers,’ who
were led in all their wanderings by an eagle, and who
eventually passed into Mexico.” One of these Hohocam

38 For the killing of this Great Eagle Szeukha had to doa kind of pen-
ance, which was never to scratch himself with his nails, but always with a
small stick. ,This custom is still observed by all Pimas; and a bit of wood,
renewed every fourth day, is carried for this purpose stuck in their long hair.

39 With the reader, as with myself, this clause will probably call up some-
thing more than a mere suspicion of Spanish influence tinging the incidents
of the legend. The Pimas themselves, however, asserted that this tradition
existed among them long before the arrival of the Spaniards and was not
modified thereby, One fact that seems to speak for the comparative purity
of their traditions is that the name of Montezuma is nowhere to be found in
them, although Cremony, Apaches, p. 102, states the contrary.

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80 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

numed Sivano, built the Casa Grande on the Gila, and in-
deed the ruins of this structure are called after his name
to this day. On the death of Sivano, his son led a
branch of the Hohocam to Salt River, where he built
certain edifices and dug a large canal, or aceguia. At
last it came about that a woman ruled over the Hohocam.
Her throne was cut out of a blue stone, and a mysteri-
ous bird was her constant attendant. These Hohocam
were at war with a people that lived to the east of them,
on the Rio Verde, and one day the bird warned her that
the enemy was at hand. The warning was disregarded
or it came too late, for the eastern people came down in
three bands, destroyed the cities of the Hohocam, and
killed or drove away all the inhabitants.

Most of the Pueblo tribes call themselves the descend-
ants of Montezuma; the Moquis, however, have a quite
different story of their origin. They believe in a great
Father living where the sun rises; and in a great Moth-
er, whose home is where the sun goes down. The Fa-
ther is the father of evil, war, pestilence, and famine;
but from the Mother are all joys, peace, plenty, and
health. In the beginning of time the Mother produced
from her western hu:ne nine races of men in the follow-
ing primary forms: First, the Deer race; second, the
Sand race; third, the Water race; fourth, the Bear race;
fifth, the Hare race; sixth, the Prairie-wolf race; seventh,
the Rattle-snake race; eighth, the Tobacco-plant race;
and ninth, the Reed-grass race. All these the Mother
placed respectively on the spots where their villages now
stand, and transformed them into the men who built the

resent Pueblos. ‘These race-distinctions are still sharp-
y kept up; for they are believed to be realities, not
only of the past and present, but also of the future; every
man when he dies shall be resolved into his primeval
form; shall wave in the grass, or drift in the sand, or
prowl on the prairie asin the beginning.”

40 *s Commerce of the Prairies, vol. i,, p. 268,
a a Kes be F

We in Schooleraft'y Arch,, vol. \v., pp. 85-6.

CAVE-ORIGIN OF THE NAVAJOS.

81

The Navajos, living north of the Pueblos, say that at
one time all the nations, Navajos, Pueblos, Coyoteros,
and white people, lived together, underground in the heart
of a mountain near the river San Juan. Their only
food was meat, which they had in abundance, for all
kinds of game were closed up with them in their cave;
but their light was dim and only endured for a few
hours each day. There were happily two dumb men
among the Navajos, flute-players who enlivened the dark-
ness with music. One of these striking by chance on
the roof of the limbo with. his flute, brought out a hol-
low sound, upon which the elders of the tribes deter-
mined to bore in the direction whence the sound came.
The flute was then set up against the roof, and the Rac-
coon sent up the tube to dig a way out; but he could
not. Then the Moth-worm mounted into the breach,
and bored and bored till he found himself suddenly on
the outside of the mountain and surrounded by water.
Under these novel circumstances, he heaped up a little
mound and set himself down on it to observe and pon-
der the situation. A critical situation enough! for, from
the four corners of the universe, four great white Swans
bore down upon him, every one with two arrows, one
under either wing. The Swan from the north reached
him first, and having pierced him with two arrows, drew
them out and examined their points, exclaiming as the
result: He is of my race. So also, in succession, did all
the others, Then they went away; and towards the di-
rections in which they departed, to the north, south, east,
and west, were found four great arroyos, by which all
the water flowed off, leaving only mud. The worm now
returned to the cave, and the Raccoon went up into the
mud, sinking in it mid-leg deep, as the marks on his fur
show to this day. And the wind began to rise, sweep-
ing up the four great arroyos, and the mud was dried
py 2 the men and the animals began to come
up their cave, and their coming up required sever-

days. First came the Navajos, and no sooner had

Von, ITT., 6,

ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

82

they reached the surface then they commenced gaming
at patole, their favorite game. Then came the Pueblos
and other Indians who crop their hair and build houses,
Lastly came the white people, who started off at once for
the rising sun and were lost sight of for many winters.

While these nations lived underground they all spake
one tongue; but with the light of day and the level of
earth, came many languages. The earth was at this
time very small and the light was quite as scanty as it
had been down below; for there was as yet no heaven,
nor sun, nor moon, nor stars. So another council of the
ancients was held and a committee of their number ap-
pointed to manufacture these luminaries. A large house
or workshop was erected; and when the sun and moon
were ready, they were entrusted to the direction and
guidance of the two dumb fluters already mentioned.
The one who got charge of the sun came very near,
through his clumsiness in his new office, to making a
Phaethon of himself and setting fire to the earth. The
old men, however, either more lenient than Zeus or lack-
ing his thunder, contented themselves with forcing the
offender back by puffing the smoke of their pipes into
his face. Since then the increasing size of the earth
has four times rendered it necessary that he should be
put back, and his course farther removed from the world
and from the subterranean cave to which he nightly re-
tires with the great light. At night also the other dumb
‘man issues from this cave, bearing the moon under his
arm, and lighting up such part of the world as he can.
Next the old men set to work to make the heavens, in-
tending to broider in the stars in beautiful patterns, of
bears, birds, and such things. But just as they had
made a beginning » prairie-wolf rushed in, and crying
out: Why all this tcouble and embroidery? scattered the
pile of stars ove:: all the floor of heaven, just as they
still lie.

When now the world and its firmament. had been fin-
ished, the old men prepared two earthen tinages or water-
jars, and having decorated one with bright colors, filled

ming
Pueblos
houses.
once for
rinters.
all spake
- level of
3 at this
unty as it
y heaven,
cil of the
umber ap-
urge house
and moon
ction and
nentioned.
very near,
making a
wrth. ‘The
us or lack-
orcing >
ipes into
i earth
should be
the world
mightly re-
‘her dumb
under his
as he can.
pavens, in-
hatterns, of
they had
And crying
attered the
st as they

’ been fin-
bs Or water-
lors, filled

ORIGIN-MYTHS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 88

it with trifles; while the other was left plain on the out-
side, but filled within with flocks and herds and riches
of all kinds. These jars being covered and presented to
the Navajos and Pueblos, the former chose the gaudy
but paltry jar; while the Pueblos received the plain and
rich vessel; each nation showing in its choice traits
which characterize i+ to this day. Next there arose
among the Navajos a great gambler, who went on win-
ning the goods and the persons of his opponents till he
had won the whole tribe. Upon this,,one of the old
men became indignant, set the gambler on his bow-
string and shot him off into space,—an unfortunate pro-
ceeding, for the fellow returned in a short time with fire-
arms and the Spaniards. Let me conclude by telling
how the Navajos came by the seed they now cultivate:
All the wise men being one day assembled, a turkey-hen
came flying from the direction of the morning star, and
shook from her feathers an ear of blue corn into the
midst of the company; and in subsequent visits brought
all the other seeds they possess.

Of some tribes, we do not know that they possess any
other ideas of their origin than the name of their first
ancestor, or the name of a creator or a tradition of his
existence,

The Sinaloas, from Culiacan north to the Yaqui River,
have dances in honor of a certain Viriseva, the mother
of the first man. This first man, who was her son, and
called Vairubi, they hold in like esteem.” The Cochimis,
of Lower California, amid an apparent multiplicity of
gods, say there is in reality only one, who created
heaven, earth, plants, animals, and man.“ The Pericues,
also of Lower California, call the creator Niparaja, and
say that the heavens are his dwelling-place. A sect of
pp. 2180 te sateen Croteuh ditiore cea train that ayek othe teat rhe
makes the following addition: After the ie gl came up from the cave, there
came a time when, by the ferocity of giants and rapacious animals, their

numbers were reduced to three—an old man, an old woman, and a young
woman, The stock was replenished by the latter bearing a child to the sun,

Ribas, Hist,, pp. 18, 40,
“ Clavigero, Blorka della Cal., tom i., p. 189,

i a ns ee” ee Sa eae

84 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

the same tribe, add that the stars are made of metal, and .

are the work of a certain Purutabui; while the moon has
been made by one Cucunumic.“

The nations of Los Angeles County, California, believe
that their one god, Quaoar, came down from heaven;
and, after reducing chaos to order, put the world on the
back of seven giants. He then created the lower ani-
mals, and lastly aman and awoman. These were made
separately out of earth and called, the man Tobohar, and
the woman Pabavit.”

Hugo Reid, to whom we are mainly indebted for the
mythology of Southern California, and who is an excel-
lent authority, inasmuch as his wife was an Indian woman
of that country, besides the preceding gives us another
and different tradition on the same subject: Two great
Beings made the world, filled it with grass and trees, and
gave form, life, and motion to the various animals that
people land and sea. When this work was done, the
elder Creator went up to heaven and left his brother
alone on the earth. The solitary god left below, made to
himself men-children, that he should nof be utterly com-
panionless. Fortunately also, about this time, the moon
came to that neighborhood; she was very fair in her
delicae beauty, very kind hearted, and she filled the
place of a mother to the men-children that the god had
created. She watched over them, and guarded them
from all evil things of the night, standing at the door of
their lodge. The children grew up very happily, lay-
ing great store by the love with which their guardians
regarded them; but there came a day when their heart
saddened, in which they began to notice that neither
their god-creator nor their moon foster-mother gave them
any longer undivided affection and car, but that in-
stead, the two great ones seemed to waste much precious
love upon each other. The tall god began: to steal out
of their lodge at dusk, and spend the night watches in
the company of the white-haired moon, who, on the

4 Clavigero, Storta della Cal,, tom. i, pp. 185-7,
Hugo Retd, in Loa Angeles’ Star."

f

S2SooSf227F eo Sf Qaewrwsasewnnua

etal, and .

noon has

, believe
heaven;
id on the
wer ani-
ere made
phar, and

.d for the
an excel-
n woman
3 another
[wo great
trees, and
mals that
done, the
is brother
y, made to
erly com-
the moon
r in her
filled the
le god had
ded them
e door of
pily, lay-
guardians
eir heart
at neither
rave them
that in-
precious
steal out
vatches in
on the

’

CENTRAL-CALIFORNIAN OREATION-MYTHS.

other hand, did not seem on these occasions to pay such
absorbing attention to her sentinel duty as at other times.
The children grew sad at this, and bitter at the heart
with a boyish jealousy. But worse was yet to come:
one night they were awakened by a querulous wail-
ing in their lodge, and the earliest dawn showed them
a strange thing, which they afterwards came to know
was a new-born infant, lying in the doorway. The god
and the moon had eloped together; their Great One
had returned to his place beyond the ether, and that he
might not be separated from his paramour, he had appoint-
ed her at the same time a lodge in the great firmament;
where she may yet be seen, with her gauzy robe and
shining silver hair, treading celestial paths. The child
left on the earth was a girl. fhe grew up very soft,
very bright, very beautiful, like her mother; but like
her mother also, O so fickle and frail! She was the
first of woman-kind, from her are all other women
descended, and from the moon; and as the moon changes
so they all change, say the philosophers of Los An-
geles,’

A much more prosaic and materialistic origin is that
accorded tothe moon in the traditions of the Gallino-
meros of Central California.” In the beginning, the
say, there was no light, but a thick darkness covered all
the earth, Man stumbled blindly against man and
against the animals, the birds clashed together in the
air, and confusion reigned everywhere. The Hawk
happening by chance to fly into the face of the Coyote,
there followed mutual apologies and afterwards a long
discussion on the emergency of the situation. Deter-
mined to make some effort toward abating the public
evil, the two set about a remedy. The Coyote gathered
a great heap of tules, rolled them into a ball, and gave it
to the Hawk, together with some pieces of flint. Gather-
ing all together as well as he could, the Hawk flew
straight up into the sky, where he struck fire with the

“ Hugo Reid, 1b.
48 Russian River Valley, Sonoma County,

Pe yt ag ee tee ee Te bene Qtek Og Stee eee ere Pe os

86 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

flints, lit his ball of reeds, and left it there, whirling
along all in a fierce red glow as it continues to the pres-
ent; for it is the sun. In the same way the moon was
made, but as the tules of which it was constructed were
rather damp, its light has been always somewhat uncer-
tain and feeble.”

In northern California, we find the Mattoles,” who
connect a tradition of a destructive flood with Taylor
Peak, a mountain in their locality, on which they
say their forefathers took refuge. As to the creation,
they teach that a certain Big Man began by making
the naked earth, silent and bleak, with nothing of
plant or animal thereon, save one Indian, yiio roamed
about in a wofully hungry and desolate state. Sudden-
ly there rose a terrible whirlwind, the air grew dark
and thick with dust and drifting sand, and the Indian
fell upon his face in sore dread. Then there came a
great calm, and the man rose and looked, and lo, all the
earth was perfect and peopled; the grass and the trees
were green on every plain and hill; the beasts of the
fields, the fowls of the air, the creeping things, the things
that swim, moved everywhere in his sight. There is a
limit set to the number of the animals, which is this:
only a certain number of animal spirits are in existence;
when one beast dies, his spirit immediately takes up its
abode in another body, so that the whole number of ani-
mals is always the same, and the original spirits move in
an endless circle of earthy immortality.”

We pass now to a train of myths in which the Coyote
again appears, figuring in many important and some-
what mystical rdles,—figuring in fact as the great Some-
body of many tribes. To him, though involuntarily as
it sppears, are owing the fish to be found in Clear Lake.
The story runs that one summer long ago there was a
terrible drought in that region, followed by a plague of
grasshoppers. The Coyote ate a great quantity of these

: a — * 4 :

49 Powers’ Pomo, MS.
© Humboldt County.
51 Powers’ Pomo,

hirling
e pres-
on was
.d were
, uncer-
3, who
Taylor
sh they
xreation,
making
thing of
) roamed
Sudden-
ew dark
.e Indian
> came &
lo, all the
the trees
sts of the
he things
There is &
h is this:
existence ;
kes up its
ber Of ani-
g move in

he Coyote
nd some-
at Some-
mtarily a8
ear Lake.
ere was
plague of
y of these

THE COYOTE OF THE CALIFORNIANS. 87

grasshoppers, and drank up the whole lake to quench his
thirst. After this he lay down to sleep off the effects of
his extraordinary repast, and while he slept a man came
up from the south country and thrust him through with
a spear. ‘Then all the water he had drunk flowed back
through his wound into the lake, and with the water the
grasshoppers he had eaten; and these insects became
fishes, the same that still swim in Cleaf Lake.”

The Californians in most cases describe themselves as
originating from the Coyote, and more remotely, from
the very soil they tread. In the language of Mr.
Powers,—whose extended personal investigations give
him the right to speak with authority,—“ All the abo-
riginal inhabitants of California, without exception,
believe that their first ancestors were created directly
from the earth of their respective present dwelling-
places, and, in very many cases, that these ancestors were
coyotes,” .

The Potoyantes give an ingenious account of the
transformation of the first coyotes into men: There was
an age in which no men existed, nothing but coyotes.
When one of these animals died, his body used to breed
a multitude of little animals, much as the carcass of the
huge Ymir, rotting in Ginnunga-gap, bred the maggots
that turned to dwarfs. The little animals of our story
were in reality spirits, which, after crawling about for a
time on the dead coyote, and taking all kinds of shapes,
ended by spreading wings and floating off to the moon.
This evidently would not do; the earth was in danger
of becoming depopulated; so the old coyotes took coun-
sel together if perchance they might devise a remedy.
The result was a general order that, for the time to come,
all bodies should be incinerated immediately after death.
Thus originated the custom of burning the dead, a
custom still kept up among these people. We next learn,
—what a might have been expected of animals of
such wisdom and parts,—that these primeval coyotes

52 Powers’ Pomo, MS.
53 Powers’ Pomo, MS,

88 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

began by degrees to assume the shape of men. At first,
it is true, with many imperfections; but, a toe, an ear,
a hand, bit by bit, they were gradually builded up into
the perfect form of man looking upward. [For one
thing they still grieve, however, of all their lost estate,—
their tails are gone. An acquired habit of sitting up-
right, has utterly erased and destroyed that beautiful
member. Lost is indeed lost, and gone is gone for ever,
yet still when in dance and festival, the Potoyante
throws off the weary burden of hard and utilitarian care,
he attaches to himself, as nearly as may be in the ancient
place, an artificial tail, and forgets for a happy hour the
degeneracy of the present in simulating the glory of the
tO

The Californians tell again of a great flood, or at least
of a time when the whole country, with the exception of
Mount Diablo and Reed Peak, was covered with water.
There was a Coyote on the peak, the only living thing
the wide world over, and there was a single feather toss-
ing about on the rippled water. The Coyote was look-
ing at the feather, and even as he looked, flesh and
bones ana other feathers, came and joined themselves
to the first, and became an Eagle. There was a stir on
the water, a rush of broad pinions, and before the
widening circles reached the island-hill, the bird stood
beside the astonished Coyote. The two came soon to be
acquainted and to be good friends, and they made occa-
sional excursions together to the other hill, the Eagle
flying leisurely overhead while the Coyote swam. After
a time they began to feel lonely, so they created men; and
as the men multiplied the waters abated, till the dry land
came to be much as it is at present.

Now, also, the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin
began to find their way into the Pacific, through the
mountains which, up to this time, had stretched across
the mouth of San Francisco Bay. No Poseidon clove
the hills with his trident, as when the pleasant vale of
Tempe was formed, but a strong earthquake tore the

% Johnston, in Schoolcraft'’s Arch,, vol. iv., pp. 224-5.

t first,
an. ear,
1p into
yr one
tate,—
ng up-
sautiful
or ever,
toyante
an care,
ancient
,our the
y of the

- at least
eption of
h water.
ng thing
her toss-
was look-
esh and
emselves
a stir on
pfore the
ird stood
pon to be
Ade OCCAa-
he Eagle
n. After
men; and
dry land

b Joaquin
ough the
ea across
Hon clove
ht vale of
tore the

HOW THE GOLDEN GATE WAS OPENED. 89

rock apart and opened the Golden Gate between the
waters within and those without. Before this there had
existed only two outlets for the drainage of the whole
country; one was the Russian River, and the other the
San Juan.”

The natives in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe, ascribe
its origin to a great natural convulsion. There was
a time, they say, when their tribe possessed the whole
earth, and were strong, numerous, and rich; but a day
came in which a people rose up stronger than they,
and defeated and enslaved them. Afterwards the
Great Spirit sent an immense wave across the conti-
nent from the sea, and this wave engulfed both
the oppressors and the oppressed, all but a very small
remnant. Then the taskmasters made the remaining
people raise up a great temple, so that they, of the
ruling caste, should have a refuge in case of another flood,
and on the top of this temple the masters worshiped a
column of perpetual fire.

Half a moon had not elapsed, however, before the
earth was again troubled, this time with strong con-
vulsions and thunderings, upon which the masters took
refuge in their great tower, closing the people out.
The poor slaves fled to the Humboldt River, and
getting into canoes paddled for life from the awful sight
behind them. For the land was tossing like a troubled
sea, and casting up fire, smoke, and ashes. The flames
went up to the very heaven and melted many stars, so
that they rained down in molten metal upon the earth,
forming the ore that the white men seek. The Sierra
was mounded up from the bosom of the earth; while
the place where the great fort stood sank, leaving only
the dome on the top exposed above the waters of Lake
Tahoe. The inmates of the temple-tower clung to this
dome to save themselves from drowning; but the Great
Spirit walked upon the waters in his wrath, and took
the oppressors one by one like pebbles, and threw them
far into the recesses of a great cavern, on the east side of
8 H, B.D, in Hesperian Mag., vol. iii., 1859, p. 326,

90 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

the lake, called to this day the Spirit Lodge, where the
waters shut them in. There must they remain till a
last great volcanic burning, which is to overturn the
whole earth, shall again set them free. In the depths of
their cavern-prison they may still be heard, wailing and
moaning, when the snows melt and the waters swell in
the lake.*

We again meet the Coyote among the Cahrocs of
Klamath River in Northern California. These Cahrocs
believe in a certain Chareya, Old Man Above, who made
the world, sitting the while upon a certain stool now in
the possession of the high-priest, or chief medicine-man.
After the creation of the earth, Chareya first made fishes,
then the lower animals, and lastly man, upon whom was
conferred the power of assigning to each animal its re-

spective duties and position. The man determined to
give each a bow, the length of which should denote the
rank of the receiver. So he called all the animals
together, and told them that next day, early in the
morning, the distribution of bows would take place.
Now the Coyote greatly desired the longest bow; and,
in order to be in first at the division, he determined to
remain awake all night. His anxiety sustained him for
some time; but just before morning he gave way, and
fell into a sound sleep. The consequence was, he was
last at the rendezvous, and got the shortest bow of all.
The man took pity on his distress, however, and brought
the matter to the notice of Chareya, who, on considering
the circumstances, decreed that the Coyote shou! *. become
the most cunning of animals, as he remains tc chis time.
The Coyote was very grateful to the man for his inter-
cession, and he became his friend and the friend of his
children, and did many things to aid mankind as we
shall see hereafter.”

The natives in the neighborhood of Mount Shasta, in
Northern California, say that the Great Spirit made this
mountain first of all. Boring a hole in the ene using &

56 Wadsworth, in Hutchings’ Cal. Mag., vol. ii., 1858, pp. 356-8.
57 Powers’ Pomo, 8.

MOUNT SHASTA THE WIGWAM OF THE GREAT SPIRIT. 91

large stone as an auger, he pushed down snow and ice
until they lfad reached the desired height; then he
stepped from cloud to cloud down to the great icy pile,
and from it to the earth, where he planted the first trees
by merely putting his finger into the soil here and there.
The sun began to melt the snow; the snow produced
water; the water ran down the sides of the mountains,
refreshed the trees, and made rivers. The Creator
gathered the leaves that fell from the trees, blew upon
them, and they became birds. He took a stick and
broke it into pieces; of the small end he made fishes;
and of the middle of the stick he made animals,—the
grizaly bear excepted, which he formed from the big end
of his stick, appointing him to be master over all the
others. Indeed this animal was then so large, strong,
and cunning, that the Creator somewhat feared him, and
hollowed out Mount Shasta as a wigwam for himself,
where he might reside while on earth, in the most per-
fect security and coinfort. So the smoke was soon to be
seen curling up from the mountain, where the Great
Spirit and his family lived, and still live, though their
hearth-fire is alight no longer, now that the white man
isin the land. This was thousands of snows ago, and
there came after this a late and severe spring-time, in
which a memorable storm blew up from the sea, shaking
the huge lodge to its base. The Great Spirit commanded
his daughter, little more than an infant, to go up and
bid the wind to be still, cautioning her at the same time
in his fatherly way, not to put her head out into the
blast, but only to thrust out her little red arm and make
a sign before she delivered her message. The eager
child hastened up to the hole in the roof, did as she
was told, and then turned to descend; but the Eve was
too strong in her to leave without a look at the forbidden
world outside and the rivers and the trees, at the far
ocean and the great waves that the storm had made as
hoary as the forests when the snow is on the firs. She
stopped, she put out her head to look; instantly th:
storm took her by the long hair, and blew her down to

92 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS,

the earth, down the mountain side, over the smooth ice
and soft snow, down to the land of the grizzly bears.

Now the grizzly bears were somewhat different then
from what they are at present. In appearance they
were much the same it is true; but they walked then on
their hind legs like men, and talked, and carried clubs,
using the fore-limbs as men use their arms.

There was a family of these grizzlies living at the
foot of the mountain, at the place where the child was
blown to. The father was returning from the hunt
with his club on his shoulder and a young elk in his
hand, when he saw the little shivering waif lying on the
snow with her hair all tangled about her. The old
Grizzly, pitying and wondering at the strange forlorn
creature, lifted it up, and carried it in to his wife to see
what should be done. She too was pitiful, and she fed
it from her own breast, bringing it up quietly as one of
her family. So the girl grew up, and the eldest son
of the old Grizzly married her, and their offspring was
neither grizzly nor Great Spirit, but man. Very proud
indeed were the whole grizzly nation of the new race,
and uniting their strength from all parts of the country,
they built the young mother and her family a mount-
ain wigwam near that of the Great Spirit; and this
structure of theirs is now known as Little Mount Shasta.
Many years passed away, and at last the old grandmother
Grizzly became very feeble and felt that she must soon
die. She knew that the girl she had adopted was the
daughter of the Great Spirit, and her conscience troubled
her that she had never let him know anything of
the fate of his child. So she called all the grizzlies
together to the new lodge, and sent her eldest grandson
up on a cloud to the summit of Mount Shasta, to tell
the father that his daughter yet lived. When the
Great Spirit heard that, he was so glad that he immedi-
ately ran down the mountain, on the south side, toward
where he had been told his daughter was; and such
was the swiftness of his pace that the snow was melted
here and there along his course, as it remains to this

ng of
izzlies
\ dson.
o tell

the
edi-
bward
such
helted
0 this

THE GRIZZLY FAMILY OF MOUNT SHASTA. 98
day. The grizzlies had prepared him an honorable
reception, and as he approached his daughter’s home, he
found them standing in thousands in two files, on either
side of the door, with their clubs under their arms. He
had never pictured his daughter as aught but the little
child he had loved so long ago; but when he found that
she was a mother, and that he had been betrayed into the
creation of a new race, his anger overcame him; he scowled
so terribly on the poor old grandmother Grizzly that she
died upon the spot. At this all the bears set up a fear-
ful howl, but the exasperated father, taking his lost dar-
ling on his shoulder, turned to the armed host, and in his
fury cursed them. Peace! he said. Be silent for ever!
Let no articulate word ever again pass your lips,
neither stand any more upright; but use your hands as
feet, and look downward until I come again! Then he
drove them all out; he drove out also the new race of men,
shut to the door of Little Mount Shasta, and passed
away to his mountain, carrying his daughter; and her
or him no eye has since seen. The grizzlies never spoke
again, nor stood up; save indeed when fighting for their
life, when the Great Spirit still permits them to stand as
in the old time, and to use their fists like men. No Indian
tracing his descent from the spirit mother and the grizzly,
as here described, will kill a grizzly bear; and if by an
evil chance a grizzly kill a man in any place, that spot
becomes memorable, and every one that passes casts a
stone there till a great pile is thrown up.®

Let us now pass on, and going east and north, enter
the Shoshone country. In Idaho there are certain famous
Soda Springs whose origin the Snakes refer to the close
of their happiest age. Long ago, the legend runs, when
the cotton-woods on the Big River were no larger than
arrows, all red men were at peace, the hatchet was
everywhere buried, and hunter met hunter in the game-
lands of the one or the other, with all hospitality and good-
will, During this state of things, two chiefs, one of the

58 Joaquin Miller's Life Amongst the Modoca, pp. 235-236, 242-6,

94 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

Shoshone, the other of the Comanche nation, met one
day at a certain spring. The Shoshone had been suc-
cessful in the chase, and the Comanche very unlucky,
which put the latter in rather an ill humor. So he got
up a dispute with the otner as to the importance of their
respective and related tribes, and ended by making an
unprovoked and treacherous attack on the Shoshone,
striking him into the water from behind, when he had
stooped to drink. The murdered man fell forward into
the water, and immediately a strange commotion was
observable there; great bubbles and spirts of gas shot
up from the bottom of the pool, and amid a cloud of
vapor there arose also an old white-haired Indian, armed
with a ponderous club of elk-horn. Well the assassin
knew who stood before him; the totem on the breast
was that of Wankanaga, the father both of the Shoshone
and of the Comanche nations, an ancient famous for his
brave deeds, and celebrated in the hieroglyphic pictures
of both peoples. Accursed of two nations! cried the old
man, this day hast thou put death between the two
greatest peoples under the sun; see, the blood of this
Shoshone cries out to the Great Spirit for vengeance. And
he dashed out the brains of the Comanche with his club,
and the murderer fell there beside his victim into the
spring. After that the spring became foul and bitter,
nor even to this day can any one drink of its nauseous
water. Then Wankanaga, seeing that it had been defiled,
took his club and smote a neighboring rock, and the rock
burst forth into clear bubbling water, so fresh and so
grateful to the palate that no other water can even be
compared to it.”

Passing into Washington, we find an account of the
origin of the falls of Palouse River and of certain native
tribes. There lived here at one time a family of giants,
four brothers and a sister. The sister wanted some
beaver-fat and she begged her brothers to get it for her,
—no easy’ task, as there was only one beaver in the

59 Ructon's ‘Adven, in Mew., pp. 244-6,

bitter,
useous
efiled,
e rock
nd 80
en be

of the
native
piants,
\ some
DY her,

in the

THE GIANTS OF THE PALOUSE RIVER. 95

country, and he an animal of extraordinary size and
activity. However, like four gallant fellows, the giants
set out to find the monster, soon catching sight of him near
the mouth of the Palouse, then a peaceful gliding river
with an even though winding channel. They at once
gave chase, heading him up the river. A little distance
up-stream they succeeded in striking him for,the first time
with their spears, but he shook himself clear, making in his
struggle the first rapids of the Palouse, and dashed on
up-stream. Again the brothers overtook him, pinning him
to the river-bed with their weapons, and again the vigor-
ous beast writhed away, making thus the second falls
of the Palouse. Another chase, and, in a third and
fatal attack, the four spear-shafts are struck again through
the broad wounded back. There is a last stubborn
struggle at the spot since marked by the great falls called
Aputaput, a tearing of earth and a lashing of water in the
fierce death-flurry, and the huge Beaver is dead. The
brothers having secured the skin and fat, cut up the body
and threw the pieces in various directions. From these
pieces have originated the various tribes of the country,
as the Cayuses, the Nez Percés, the Walla Wallas, and
soon. The Cayuses sprang from the beaver's heart, and
for this reason they are more energetic, daring, and suc-
cessful than their neighbors,”

In Oregon the Chinooks and neighboring people tell
of a pre-ehuman demon race, called Ulhidipa by the
Chinooks, and Sehuidb by the Clallams and Lummis,
The Chinooks say that the human race was created by
Italapas, the Coyote. The first men were sent into
the world in a very lumpish and imperfect state, their
mouth and eyes were closed, their hands and feet im-
movable. Then a kind and powerful spirit called Iké-
nam, took a sharp stone, opened the eyes of these poor
creatures, and gave motion to their hands and feet. He
taught them how to make canoes as well as all other
implements and utensils; and he threw great rocks into

60 Wilkes’ Nar. in U. S, De. Hx., vol, iv., p. 496.

96 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

the rivers and made falls, to obstruct the salmon in their
ascent, so that they might be easily caught.

Farther north among the Ahts of Vancouver Island,
perhaps the commonest notion of origin is that men at
first existed as birds, animals, and fishes. We are told of
a certain Quawteaht, represented somewhat contradictori-
ly, as the first Aht that ever lived, thickset and hairy-
limbed, and as the chief Aht deity, a purely supernatural
being, if not the creator, at least the maker and shaper
of most things, the maker of the land and the water,
and of the animals that inhabit the one or the
other. In each of these animals as at first created, there
resided the embryo or essence of 8 man. One day a
canoe came down the coast, paddled by two personages
in the, at that time, unknown form of men. The «ni-
mals were frightened out of their wits, and fled, each
from his house, in such haste that he left behind
him the human essence that he usually carried in his
body. These embryos rapidly developed into men; they
multiplied, made use of the huts deserted by the animals,
and became in every way as the Ahts are now. There
exists another account of the origin of the Ahts, which
would make them the direct descendants of Quawteaht
and an immense bird that he married,—the great Thun-
der Bird, Tootooch, with which, under a different name
and in a different sex, we shall become more familiar
creeps The flapping of Tootooch’s wings shook the

ills with thunder, toofah; and when she put out her
forked tongue, the lightning quivered across the sky.

The Ahts have various legends of the way in which
fire was first obtained, which legends may be reduced to
the following: Quawteaht withheld fire, for some reason
or other, from the creatures that he had brought into the
world, with one exception; it was always to be found
burning in the home of the cuttl.-fish, telhoop. The
other beasts attempted to steal this fire, but only the

61 Franchére’s Nar., p. 268; Cow's Adven., vol.i., p. 317; Gibbs’ Chinook
Vooab,, pp., 11-13; Id., Clallam and Lumms Vooab., ‘pp. 15-29; Parker's Hw-
plor. Tour, p. 199,

heir

and,
on at
ld of
ctori-
airy-
atural
haper
water,
r the
, there
day 2
onages
ne &ni-
i, each
behind
in his
1; they
nimals,
There
; which
nwteaht
Thun-
nt name
familiar
ook the
out her

sky.

J nich
uced to
reason
into the
» found
, The
\ ly the

a’ Chinook
t wboer's Ke-

NOOTKA AND SALISH CREATION-MYTHS. 97

deer succeeded; he hid a little of it in the joint of his
hind leg, and escaping, introduced the element to general
use.
Not all animals, it would appear, were produced in the
general creation; the loon and the crow had a special
origin. being metamorphosed men. Two fishermen,
being out at sea in their canoes, fell to quarreling, the
one ridiculing the other for his small success in fishing.
Finally the unsuccessful man became so infuriated by
the taunts of his companion that he knocked him on the
head, and stole his fish, cutting out his tongue before he
paddled off, lest by any chance the unfortunate should
recover his senses and gain the shore. The precaution was
well taken, for the mutilated man reached the land and
tried to denounce his late companion. No sound how-
ever could he utter but something resembling the cry of a
loon, upon which the Great Spirit, Quawteaht, became
so indiscriminatingly angry at the whole affair that he
changed the poor mute into a loon, and his assailant
into a crow. So when the mournful voice of the loon
is heard from the silent lake or river, it is still the poor
fisherman thet we hear, trying to make himself under-
stood and to tell the hard story of his wrongs.”

The general drift of many of the foregoing myths
would go to indicate a wide-spread belief in the theory
of an evolution of man from animals.” Traditions are
not wanting, however, whose teaching is precisely the
reverse. The Salish, the Nisquallies, and the Yakimas
of Washington, all hold that beasts, fishes, and even
edible roots are descended from human originals, One
account of this inverse Darwinian develop™ent is this:
The son of the Sun—w’ ~ -*’2x he may have been—caused
certain individuals to s.:m through a lake of magic oil,
a liquid of such Circean potency that the unfortunates

ot rene Scenes, pp. 176-85, 203-14,

63 To the examples alread given of this we may add the case of the Hai-
dahs of Queen Charlotte Island, of whom Mr. Poole, Q. Char, Isl., p. 196,
says: ‘Their deacent from the crows is quite gravely affirmed ani| steadfastly
maintained, et

OL, . m

ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

immersed were transformed as above related. The
peculiarities of organism of the various animals, are the
results of incidents of their passage; the bear dived, and
is therefore fat all over; the goose swam high, and is
consequently fat only up to the water-line; and so on
through all the list. .

Moving north to the Tacullies of British Columbia,
we find the Musk-rat an active agent in the work of
creation. The flat earth, following the Tacully cosmog-
ony, was at first wholly covered with water. On the
water a Musk-rat swam to and fro, seeking food. Find-
ing none there, he dived to the bottom and brought up a
mouthful of mud, but only to spit it out again when he
came to the surface. All this he did again and again
till quite an island was formed and by degrees the whole
earth. In some unexplained way this earth became
afterwards peopled in every part, and so remained, until
a fierce fire of several days’ duration swept over it, de-
stroying all life, with two exceptions; one man and one
woman hid themselves in a deep cave in the heart of a
mountain, and from these two has the world been since
repeopled.”

From the Tacully country we pass north and west
to the coast inhabited by the, Thlinkeets, among whom
the myth of a great Bird, or of a great hero-deity, whose
favorite disguise is the shape of a.bird, assumes the most
elaborate proportions and importance. . Here the name
of this great Somebody is Yehl, the Crow or Raven,
creator of most things, and especially of the Thlinkeets,
‘Very dark, damp, and chaotic was the world in the
beginning; nothing with breath or body .moved there
except Yehl; in the likeness of a raven he brooded over
the mist, his black wings beat down. the vast confusion,
the waters went back before him and the dry land
appeared. The Thlinkeets were placed on the earth—
though how or when does not exactly appear—while the
world was still in’ darkness, and without sun or moon

Anderson in Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p, 240,
© Harmon's Jour., pp. 302-3,

The
are the
ed, and
and is
1 s0 on

lumbia,
work of
cosmog-
On the
Find-
tht up a
vhen he
id again
1e whole
became
d, until
r it, de-
and one
2art of a
en since

nd west
ig whom
y; whose
the most
he name

Raven,
linkeets.
| in the
ed there
ded over
onfusion,
dry land
- earth—
while the
or moon

Mp murderous met M

‘tence, he greeted Yehl wi

ee ss and invited
sea,

Y Approaching manhood
ture the thought of theiy
8 wife. So he inveigled

with him

pon himself
ty hunter and fiokan

appeared to him, hay-

e

Instant] ithfil bingy
ieee Y the eight faithful birds

Os

ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

100

murderer was beside himself with fury, he imprecated
with a potent curse a deluge upon all the earth, well
content to perish himself so he involved his rival in
the common destruction, for jealousy is cruel as) the
grave. The flood came, the waters rose and rose; but
Yehl clothed himself in his bird-skin, and soared up to
heaven, where he struck his beak into a cloud, and re-
mained till the waters were assuaged.

After this affair Yehl had many other adventures, so
many that “‘one man cannot know them all,” as the
Thlinkeets say. One of the most useful things he did
was to supply light to mankind—with whom, as appears,
the earth had been again peopled after the deluge. Now
all the light in the worla was stored away in -three
boxes, among the riches of 2 certain mysterious’ old
Chief, who guarded his treasure closely. Yehl set
his wits to work to secure the boxes; he determined to
be born into the chief's family. The ‘old fellow had ond
daughter upon whom he doted, and Yehl transforming
himself into a blade of grass, got into the girl's drinking-
cup and was swallowed by her. : In due time she gave
birth to a son, who was Yehl, thus a second time born of
& woman into the world. Very proud was the old chief
of his grandson, loving him even as he loved his daugb-
ter, s0 that Yeh] came to be a decidedly spoiled child.
He fell a crying one day,. working himself. almost into a
fit; he kicked and scratched and howled, and turnéd
the family hut into a little pandemonium as only an
infant plague can. He screamed for one of the three
boxes; he would have a box; nothing but .a box should
ever appease him! The indulgent grandfither gave him
one of the boxes; he clutched it, stopped crying, and
crawled off into the yard to play. Playing, he,contrived
to wrench the lid off, and lo! the beautiful heaven was
thick with stars, and the box empty. The old man
wept for the loss of his stars, but he did*not scold his
grandson, he loved him too blindly for that. Yehl had
succeeded in-getting the stars into the firmament, and
he proceeded to repeat his successful trick, to do the like

ated

well

al in
3) the
5 but
up to
nd re-

res, 80
as the
he did
ars,
PP Now
1 three
ous’ old
ehl set
ined to
had one
forming
inking-
she gave
» born of
old chief
s daugb-
bd child.
st into &

A turnéd
only an
e three
xX should
yave him
ing, and
ontrived
ven , was
old sa
acold his
eh had
ent, and
’ the like

ADVENTURES OF YEHL AND KHANUKH.

101

by the moon and sun. Asmay be imagined, the difficulty
was much increased; still he gained his end. He first
let the moon out into the sky, and some time afterward,
getting possession of the box that held the sun, he
changed himself into a raven and flew away with his
greatest prize of all. When he set up the blazing light
in heaven, the people that saw it were at first afraid.
Many hid themselves in’ the mountaits, and in the
forests, and even in the water, and were changed into
the various kinds of animals that frequent these places.

There are still other feats of Yehl’s replete with the
happiest consequences to mankind. There was a time,
for instance, when all the fire in the world was hid away
in an island of the ocean. Thither flew the indefatigable
deity, fetching back a brand in his mouth. The dis-
tance, however, was so great that most of the wood was
burned away and a part of his beak, before he reached
the Thlinkeet shore. Arrived there, he dropped the
embers at once, and the sparks flew about in all direc-
tions among various sticks and stones; therefore it is
that by striking these stones, and by friction on this wood,
fire is always to be obtained.

Light they now had, and fire; but one thing was still
wanting to men; they had no fresh water. A personage
called Khanukh® kept all the fresh water in his well,
in an island to the east of Sitka, and over the mouth of
the well, for its better custody, he had built his hut.
Yehl set out to the island in his boat, to secure the water,
and on his way he met Khanukh himeelf, paddling along
in another boat. Khanukh spoke first: How long
liast thou been living in the world? Proudly Yehl
answered: Before the world stood*in its place, I was
there. Yehl in his turn q@estioned Khanukh: But how
long hast thou. lived in the world? To which Khanukh
replied: Ever since the time that the liver came out from

® This Khanukh was the pengeniios of the Wolf family of the Thlinkeets
even ag Yehl was that of the Raven family. The influence of this wolf-deity
seems to have been generally malign, but except in connection with this
water-legend, he is little mentioned in the Thlinkeet myths. ;

102 ‘ ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

below.” Then said Yehl: Thou art older than I. Upon
this Khanukh, to show that his power was as great as
his age, took off his hat, and there rose a dense fog, s0
that the one could no longer see the other. Yehl then
became afraid, and cried out to Khanukh; but Khanukh
enswered nothing. At last when Yehl found himself
completely helpless in the darkness, he began to weep
and howl; upon which the old sorcerer put on his hat
again, and the fog vanished. Khanukh then invited
Yehl to his house, and entertained him handsomely with
many luxuries, among which was fresh water. The
meal over, host and guest sat down, and the latter began
a long relation of his many exploits and adventures.
Khanukh listened as attentively as he could, but the
story was really so interminable that he at last fell
asleep across the cover of his well. This frustrated
Yehl’s intention of stealing the water while its owner
slept, so he resorted to another stratagem: he put some
filth under the sleeper, then waking him up, made him
believe he had bewrayed himself. Khanukh, whose own
nose abhorred him, at once hurried off to the sea to wash,
and his deceiver as quickly set about securing the pre-
cious water. Just as All-father Odin, the Raven-god, stole
Suttung’s mead, drinking it up and escaping in the form
of a bird, so Yehl drank what fresh water he could,
filling himself to the very beak, then took the form
of a raven and attempted to fly off through the chimney
of the hut. He stuck in the flue however, and Khanukh
returning at that instant recognized his guest in the
struggling bird. The old man comprehended the situa-
tion, and quietly piling up a roaring fire, he sat down
comfortably to watch the choking and scorching of his
crafty guest. The raven ha@ always been a white bird,
but,_so thoroughly was he smoked in the chimney on this
occasion that he has ever since remained the sootiest of

67 ‘ Seit der Zeit, onigygnate Khanukh, als von unten die Leber heraus-
kam.’ Holmberg, Ethn. Skiz., p.61. What is meant by the term ‘die Leber,’
literally the particular gland of the body called in English ‘the liver,’ I

cannot say; neither Holmberg or any one else, as far as my knowledge goes,
attempting any explanation.

Jpon
ut as
g, 80
then
nukh
meelf
weep
is hat
vited
r with
The
began
itures.
ut the
st fell
strated
owner
it some
de him
pse OWN
0 wash,
e pre-
DC , stole
e , form
could,
e form
imney
hanukh
in the
e situa-
at down
g of his
te bird,
on this
otiest of
pr heraus-

die Leber,’
e liver,’

ledge goes,

CHETHL AND AHGISHANAKHOU. 108

fowls. At last Khanukh watching the fire, became
drowsy and fell asleep; so Yehl escaped from the island
with the water. He flew back to the continent, where
he scattered it in every direction; "od wherever shall
drops fell there are now springs and creeks, while the
large drops have produced lakes and rivers. "This is the
end of the exploits of Yehl; having thus done every-
thing necessary to the happiness of mankind, he returned
to his habitation, which is in the east, and into which no
other spirit, nor any man can possibly enter.

The existing difference in language between the Thlin-
keets and other people is one of the consequences of a
great flood,—perhaps that flood already described as
having been brought on through the jealousy of the
canoe-builder. Many persons escaped drowning by
taking refuge in a great floating building. When the
waters fell, this vessel grounded upon a rock, and was
broken into two pieces; in the one fragment were left
those whose descendants speak the Thlinkeet language,
in the other remained all whose descendants employ a
different idiom.

Connected with the history of this deluge is another
myth in which a great Bird figures. When the waters
rose a certain mysterious brother and sister found it
necessary to part. The name’of the brother was Chethl,
that is, Thunder or ‘Lightning, and the name of the
sister was Ahgishanakhou, which means the Under-
ground Woman. As they ‘separated Chethl said to her:
Sister, you shall never see me again, but while I live
you shall hear my voice. Then he clothed himself in
the skin of a great bird,and flew towards the south-
west. His sister climbed to the top of Mount Edgecomb,
which is near Sitka, and it opened and swallowed her
up, leaving a great hole, or crater. The world itself is
an immense flat plate supported on a pillar, and under
the world, in silence and darkness, this Under-ground
Woman guards the great pillar ‘from evil and malignant
powers, She has never seen her brother since she left
the upper world, and she shall never see him again; but

104 . OBIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

still, when the tempest sweeps down on Edgecomb, the
lightning of his eyes gleams down her crater-window,
and the thundering of his wings re-echoes through all her
subterranean halls.”

The Koniagas, north of the Thlinkeets, have their
legendary Bird and Dog,—the latter taking the place
occupied in the mythology of many other tribes by the
wolf or coyote. Up in heaven, according to the Koni-
agas, there exists a great deity called Shlijam Schoa.
He created two personages and sent them down to the
earth, and the Raven accompanied them carrying light.
This original pair made sea, rivers, mountains, forests,
and such things. Among other places they made the
Island of Kadiak, and so stocked it that the present
Koniagas assert themselves the descendants of a Dog.”

The Aleuts of the Aleutian Archipelago seem to dis-
agree upon their origin. Some say that in the beginning
a Bitch inhabited Unalaska, and that a great Dog swam
across to her from Kadiak; from which pair the human
race have sprung. Others, naming the bitch-mother of
their race Mahakh, describe a certain Old Man, called
Iraghdadakh, who came from the north to visit this
Mahakh. The result of this visit was the birth of two
creatures, male and female, with such an extraordinary
mixing up of the elements of nature in them that they
were each half man half fox. The name of the male
creature was Acagnikakh, and by the other creature he
became father of the human race. The Old Man how-
ever seems hardly to have needed any help to people the
world, for like the great patriarch of Thessaly, *e was
able to create men by merely casting stones on the earth.
He flung also other stones into ti 2 air, into the water,
and over the land, thus making b: sts, birds, and fishes.
In another version of the narrative, e first father of the

6 Barretl-Lennard's Trav., 64-7; Holmberg, ithn. Skiz., 14, 52-63;
idd; Ma:

Baer, Stat. u. Hthn., pp. 93-1 Dali's Alaska, . 421-22; afe's Vane.
Bsl., wR 452-5; Ris har deon's Jour., vol. i., p. 405, Mayne's B.C,. p. 272.

aer, Stat. u. 116; 5 Hasans Voy., pp. 197-8; Dall's Alaska,
p. 405; Holmberg, ithe wa hd

the
low,
her

heir
place
y the
‘oni-
choa.
» the
light.
rests,
e the
resent
hed
0 dis-
inning

THE DOG-ORIGIN OF THE HYPEROREANS. 106

9
Aleuts i is said to have fallen from heaven in the shape
of a dog

In the ota of the Tinneh, living inland, north-east
of the Koniagas, the familiar Bird and Dog again appear.
These legends tell us that the world existed at first as a
great ocean frequented only by an immense Bird, the
beating of whose wings was thunder, and its glance light-
ning. This great flying monster descended and tou hed
the waters, upon which the earth rose up and appeared
above them; it touched the earth, and therefrom came
every living creature,—except the Tinneh, who owe their
origin to a Dog. Therefore it is that to this day a dog's
flesh is an abomination to the Tinneh, as are also all
who eat such flesh. A few years before Captain Frank-
lin’s visit they almost ruined themselves by following the
advice of some fanatic reformer. Convinced by him of
the wickedness of exacting labor from their near rela-
tions, the dogs, they ‘got rid at once of the sin and of
all temptation to its recommission, by killing every cur in
their possession.

To return to the origin of the Tinneh, the wonderful
Bird before mentioned made and presented to them a
peculiar arrow, which they were to preserve for all time
with great care. But they would not; they misappro-
priated the sacred shaft to some common use, and imme-
diately the great Bird flew away never to return. With
its departure ended the Golden Age of the Tinneh,—an
age in which men lived till their throats were worn
through with eating, and their feet with walking.”

Belonging to the Northern-Indian branch of the Tin-
neh we find a narrative in which the Dog holds a promi-
nent place, but in which we find no mention at all of
the Bird: The earth existed at first in a chaotic state,
with only one human inhabitant, a woman who dwelt in
a cave and lived on berries. While gathering these one
day, she encountered an animal like adog, which followed

7 Choris, Voy. Pitt, pt. vii, p. 7; Koteebue’s Voy., vol. ii., p., 165.
1 Dunn's Oregon, pp. 102, et seq; Schoolcraft's ‘Arch, vol. v., p. 173;
Mackenzie's Voy., p. hi Franidin’s Nar., vol. i., pp. 249-50.

106 ORIGIN AND END OF THINGS.

her home. ‘This Dog possessed the power of transform-
ing himself into a handsome young man, and in this
shape he became the father by the woman of the first
men. In course of time a giant of such height that his
head reached the clouds, arrived on the scene and fitted
the earth for its inhabitants. He reduced the chaos to
order; he established the land in its boundaries, he
marked out with his staff the position or course of the
lakes, ponds, and rivers. Next he slew the Dog and tore
him to pieces, as the four giants did the Beaver of the
Palouse River, or as the creating Asir did Aurgelmir.
Unlike the four brothers, however, and unlike the sons
of Bor, this giant of the Tinneh used the fragments not
to create men or things, but animals. The entrails of
the dog he threw into the water, and every piece became
a fish; the flesh he scattered over the land, and every
scrap became an animal; the bits of skin he sowed upon
the wind, and they became birds. All these spread over
the earth, and increased and multiplied; and the giant
gave the woman and her progeny power to kill and eat
of them according to their necessities, After this he
returned to his place, and he has not since been heard
of.”

Leaving now this division of our subject, more par-
ticularly concerned with cosmogony, it may not be amiss
to forestall possible criticism as to the disconnected man-
ner in which the various myths are given. I have but
to repeat that the mythology with which we have to
deal is only known in fragments, and to submit that a
broken statue, or even a broken sherd, of genuine
or presumably genuine antiquity, is more valuable to
science and even to poetry, than the most skillful ideal
restoration.

Further, the absence of any attempt to form a con-
nected whole out of the myths that come under our
notice cannot but obviate that tendency to alter in out-
line and to color in detail which is so insensibly natural
to any mythograpker prepossessed with the spirit of a

19 Hearne's Journey, pp. 342-3.

ansform-
| in this
the first

; that his
ind fitted
chaos to

aries, he
se of the
sand tore
or of the
urgelmir.
the sons
nents not
ntrails of
e became
ind every
wed upon
read over
the giant
and eat

r this he
en heard

ore par-
be amiss
ted man-
have but

have to
hit that a

genuine
luable to
lful ideal

a con-
nder our
by in out-
natural
irit of a

INTERPRETATION OF MYTHS. 107

system. In advancing lastly the opinion that the dis-
connected arrangement is not only better adapted toward
preserving the original myths in their integrity, but is
also better for the student, I may be allowed to close the
chapter with the second of the Rules for the Inter-
pretation of Mythes given by so distinguished an au-
thority as Mr. Keightley: ‘In like manner the mythes
themselves should be considered separately, and detached
from the system in which they are placed; for the single
mythes existed long before the system, and were the prod-
uct of other minds than those which afterwards set them
in connection, not unfreo.ently without fully under-
standing them.” ®

1 Keighlley’s Myth, of Ancient Greece and Italy, p. 14.

CHAPTER III.

PHYSICAL MYTHS.

80x, Moon, anp Stars—Ecuieses- THe Moon Pensonrriep mv THE Lanp
or THE CRESCENT—F rrE—How THE Coyorr StToue F178 ror THE CAHROCH-
How tHe Froa Lost His Tar.—How Tae Coyore Stove Fine ror
THE Navasos—WIND AND THUNDER—THE Four WINpDs AND THE CRosS
—Water, THE First or ELEMENTAL Tinos —Its SackED AND OCLEANS-
inc Powsr—EartH AND Sky—EantHQuAKES AND VoLCANors—Movun-
TaIns—How tHE Hawk anv Onow Bomzt tHE Coast Rance--THE
Movunrarns or YosEMITE,

Fetichism seems to be the physical philosophy of man
in his most primitive state. He lookson material things
as animated by a life analogous to his own, as having a
personal consciousness and character, as being severally
the material body that contains some immaterial essence
or soul, A child or a savage strikes or chides any object
that hurts him, and caresses the gewgaw that takes his
fancy, talking to it much as to a companion.

Let there be something peculiar, mysterious, or danger-
ous about the thing and the savage worships it, deprecates
its wrath and entreats its favor, with such ceremonies,
prayers, and sacrifices as he may deem likely to win
upon its regard. In considering such cases mythologic-
ally, it will be necessary to examine the facts to see
whether we have to ‘eal with simple fetichism or with
idolatry. That savage worships a fetich who worships
the heaving sea as a great living creature, or kneels to
flame as to a hissing roaring animal; but the Greeks in
conceiving a separate anthropomorphic god of the sea or

ef — =, = ee ee CU

oss

Ch
vO

me LaND
CaHROCH-
FinE FOR
“me CROSS
>» CLEANS-
1s—Moun-
NGE--THE

of man
things
aving a
verally
essence
y object
kes his

0 anger-
recates
monies,
to win
ologic-
to see
or with
orships

eels to
re aks in
Bp sen or

VAGARIES CONCERNING CELESTIAL BODIES. 109
of the fire, and in representing that god by figures of
different kinds, were only idolaters. The two things,
however, are often so merged into each other that it
becomes difficult or impossible to say in many instances
whether a particular object, for example the sun, is
regarded as the deity or merely as the representation or
symbol of the deity. It is plain enough, however, that
a tolerably distinct element of fetichism underlies much
of the Indian mythology. Speaking of this mythology
in the mass, the North American Review says: “ A
mysterious and inexplicable power resides in inanimate
things. They, too, can listen to the voice of man, and
influence his life for evilor for good. . Lakes, rivers, and
waterfalls are sometimes the dwelling-place of spirits,
but more frequently they are themselves living beings, to
be propitiated by prayers and offerings.’ *

The explicit worship of the sun and more or less that
of other heavenly bodies, or at least a recognition of
some supernatural power resident in or connected with
them, was widely spread through Mexico, as well among
the uncivilized as among the civilized tribes. The wild
Chichimecs or that portion of the wild tribes of Mexico to
which Alegre applied this name, owned the sun as their
deity, as did also the people of the Nayarit country.’

In what we may call civilized Mexico, the sun was
definitely worshiped under the name of Tonatiuh, the
Sun in his substance, and under that of Naolin, the Sun
in his four motions. He was sometimes represented by
a human face surrounded with rays, at other times by a
full-length human figure, while again he often seems to
be confused or connected with the element fire and the

god of fire. Sahagun, for instance, usually speaks of
the festival of the month Izcalli as appertaining to the
god of fire, but in at least one place he describes it as
belonging to the sun and the fire.’ The sun, it is toler-

1 North Am. Rev., vol. oiii.,

+ Als re, Hiat, at, Comp, de Suse, et 9) Apeatitens
Kahan, Hh my tom, toy lib, 4, Par, 745, 900-18; pltsdcion ae
Coder erlano- Remensia, parte it, Tike lam, yi Ds. ew, rely

Vol. v4 p. 199; Splegasione delle Ta ‘ia Coton a Feotoanes 7 Vatloona ta

110 PHYSICAL MYTHS.

ably certain, held, if not the highest place, one not far
removed from that position in the Mexican pantheon.
Brasseur de Bourbourg, Tylor, Squier, and Schoolcraft
agree in considering sun-worship the most radical reli-
gious idea of all civilized American religions. Pro-
fessor Miiller considers the sun-god and the supreme
Mexican Teotl to be identical. Dr. Brinton, as we shall
see when we come to notice the mythology of fire, while
not denying the prominence of the sun-cult, would refer
that cult to a baral and original fire-worship. Many
interpreters of mythology see also the personification of
the sun in others of the Mexican gods besides Tonatiuh.

More especially does evidence seem to point strongly in
this direction in the case of Quetzalcoatl, as will be seen
when we come to deal with this god.

The Mexicans were much troubled and distressed by
an eclipse of the sun. They thought that he was much
disturbed and tossed about by something, and that he
was becoming seriously jaundiced. This was the occa-
sion of a general panic, women weeping aloud, and men
howling and shouting and striking the hand upon the
mouth, There was an immediate search for men with
white hair and white faces, and these were sacrificed to the
sun, amid the din and tumult of singing and musical in-
struments. It was thought that should the eclipse become
once total, there would be an end of the light, and that
in the darkness the demons would come down to the
devouring of the people.°

xxv. and xxziii., in Kingsborough’s Mea. Anta. vol, v., pp. 178, 181-2; Mendieta,

gt a Eoles., pp. 80-1; Clavigero, Storia A del’ , tom. ii, pp. 9, 11,
fs ee Boyrtowrs, Hist, des Nat, Ctv,, tom ii, p, 901; Bragseur de

Bourbourg, Quatre 3 Tylor's @ Prim . Cult., vol, ii., Rit a ry

-3}; Sule p sree Symbol ra 18°20 Sehooloraf Ane vo

vol. + Tab eine , vol, v., LARP trees vo + BR ,

4,

6 Sahagun, ie Gen., Sey ri lib, Mit., pp. 244-5. In Campeche, in
1834, M: Waldeck witnessed an eclipse of the moon during which the Yuca-
tecs conducted themselves much as their fathers might have done in their
gentile days, howling frightfully and making every effort to part the celestial
combatants, Theo apparent ‘advance made on the old custome was the
firing off of muskets, ‘to prove’ in the words of the sarcastic artist, ‘that the
ne of a are not strangers to the progress of civilization,’ Waldeck,

oy » Ped

ot far
theon.
ricraft
1 reli-
Pro-
preme
2 shall
while
d refer
Many
stion of
natiuh.
ngly in
be seen

»ssed by
as much
that he
he occa-
nd we
nm the
with
ed to the
sical in-
a become
and that
to the

23 Mendieta,
+» PP: 9, 11,

Brasseur de
pp. 9659, 262
. iti, Ps 60,

mpeche, in
h The Yuca-
one in their
he celestial
nme was the
‘that the

.” Waldeck,

ECLIPSES, AND THEIR EFFECT ON MAN. lll

The Tlascaltecs, regarding the sun and the moon as
husband and wife, believed eclipses to be domestic quar-
rels, whose consequences were likely to be fatal: to the
world if peace could not be made before things proceeded
to an extremity. To sooth the ruffled spirit of the sun
when he was eclipsed, a human sacrifice was offered to
him of the. ruddiest victims that could be found; and
when the moon was darkened she was appeased with
the blood of those white-complexioned persons commonly
known as Albinos.’

The idea of averting the evil by noise, in case of an
eclipse either of the sun or moon, seems to have been a
common one among other American tribes. Alegre
ascribes it to the natives of Sonora in general. Ribas
tells how the Sinaloas held that the moon in an eclipse
was darkened with the dust of battle. Her enemy had
come upon her, and a terrible fight, big with consequence
to those on earth, went on in heaven. In wild excite-
ment the people beat on the sides of their houses, en-
couraging the moon and shooting flights of arrows up
into the sky to distract her adversary. Much the same
as this was also done by certain Californians.®

With regard to an eclipse of the moon the Mexicans
seem to have had rather special ideas as to its effects
upon unborn children. At such times, women who were
with child became alarmed lest their infant should be
turned into a mouse, and to guard against such an un-
desirable consummation they held a bit of obsidian, izéli,
in their mouth, or put a piece of it in their girdle, so
that the child should be born perfect and not lipless, or
noseless, o wry-mouthed, or squinting, or a monster.’
These ideas are probably connected with the fact that
the Mexicans worshiped the moon under the name of
Meztli, as a deity presiding over human generations.

10 , Het, de Tlawoallan, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom.
is riage 7oy., 1848,

Alegre

, Hist, Comp, de Jesus, tom, it,, p, 218; Ribas, Hit. de toe Trivm
a

phos, p. 202; Boscana, in Robinson's Life in
9 in, Hist, Gen,, tom. ii,, lib. viii,

112 PHYSICAL MYTHS.

This moon-god is considered by Clavigero to be identical
with Joaltecutli, god of night.”

It is to the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, however, that
‘we must turn for a truly novel and cyclopean theory of
Mexican lunolatry. He sees back to a time when the
forefathers of American civilization lived in a certain
Crescent Land in the Atlantic; here they practiced
Sabaism. Through some tremendous physical catas-
trophe their country was utterly overwhelmed by the
sea; and this inundation is considered by the abhé to
be the origin of the deluge-myths of the Central-Ameri-
can nations, A remnant of these Crescent people saved
themselves in the seven principal islands of the Lesser
Antilles; these are, he explains, the seven mythical
caves or grottoes celebrated in so many American legends
as the cradle of the nations. The saved remnant of the
people wept the loss of their friends and of their old land,
making the latter, with its crescent shape, memorable for-
ever by edopting the moon as their god. “It is the
moon,” writes the great Américaniste, ‘ male and
female, Luna and Lunus, personified in the land of the
Crescent, engulfed in the abyss, that I believe I see at
the commencement of this amalgam of rites and symbols
of every kind.” I confess inability to follow the path
by which the abbé has reached this conclusion; but I
have indicated its whereabouts, and future students may
be granted a further insight into this new labyrinth and
the subtleties of its industrious Deedalus.

‘ The Mexicans had many curious ideas about the stars,
some of which have come down to us. They particularly
reverenced a certain group of three called mamalhoaath,
in, or in the neighborhood of, the sign Taurus of the
zodiac, This name was ithe same as that of the sticks
from which fire was procured: a resemblance of some

10 Eeplicacton del Codew Telleriano-Remensis, part. ii., lam, x., in Kings-
borough's Mec, Antig., vol’. v., p. 189; Spiegasione delle Tavole del Codice Meni-
cano (Vaticano), tay. xxvi., in Kingsborough's Mew. Antig., vol. v., p. 179;
ron vt he | tom, il., lib, vii., p. 260; Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Messico,
tom.’li,, pp.

u Brasseur de Bourbourg, Quatre Letires, pp. 155-6,

atical

», that
ory of
an the
ertain
ucticed
catas-
py the
Jbhé to
Ameri-
e saved
, Lesser
rythical
legends
t of the
yd land,
able for-
It is the
1ale and
nd of the
[ see at
symbols
the path
bn; but I
ents may
inth and

he stars,
icularly
nalhoaztl,
8 of the
he sticks
of some

in Kings-
, Men\-
Codice ai;

WHAT THE MEXICANS THOUGHT OF STARS AND COMETS. 118

kind being. supposed ‘to exist between them and: these
stars,. Connected again with this was the burning by
every male Mexican: of certain marks upon his wrist, in
honor of the same: stars; it being believed that the man
who died without these marks: should, on his arrival in
hades, be. forced to draw: fire from his wrist by boring
upon it as on a fire-stick. The planet Venus was wor-
shiped as the first light that appeared in the world, as the
god of twilight, and, according to some, as being identical
with Quetzalcoatl. This star has been further said to
borrow its light: from: the moon, and to rise by four starts.
Its first twinkle was a bad augury, and to be closed out
of all doors and windows; on appearing for the third
time, it began to give a steady light, and on the fourth
it shone forth in all its clearness and brilliancy.

Comets were called each. citlalinpopoca, or the smok-
ing star; their appearance was considered as a public
disaster, and as announcing pest, dearth, or the death of
some prince. The common people were accustomed to
say of one, This is our famine, and they believed it to
cast down certain darts, which falling on any animal,
bred a maggot that rendered the creature unfit for food.
All possible precautions of shelter were of course taken
by persons in positions exposed to the influence of these
noxious rays. Besides the foregoing, there were man
stars or groups of stars whose names were identical wit
those of certain gods; the following seem to. belong to
this class: Tonacatlecutli or Citlalalatonalli, the milky
way; Yzacatecutli, Tlahvizcalpantecutli, Ceyacatl, Achi-
tumetl, Xacupancalqui, Mixcoatl, Tezcatlipoca, and Con-
temoctli.”

I have already noticed a prevailing tendency to con-
nect the worship of fire and that of the sun. The rites
of a perpetual fire are found closely connected with

18 Keplicacton delle Tavole del Codive Mexicano, part, i., lam. ii., . di,
lam, xiv., in Ki h's Mex. Antig,, vol. v., pp 182, 140; Spleqastons
delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano ( Vaticano), tav., xvil., xxxi., 1b., vol. v., pp.
175, 181; Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. ii., lib. vii, pp, 260-252; Camargo,
Hist. de Tlazcallan, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xoviii,, p. 198;
Von, III, 8

-114 ' PHYSICAL MYTHS.

a sun-cult, and, whichever may be the older, it is certain
they are rarely found apart. ‘‘ What,” says Tylor, “the
sea is to Water-worship, in some measure the Sun is to

.Fire-worship.”* Brinton would reverse this and give
to fire the predominance: in short, he says, the sun
‘“isalways spoken of as a fire;’ ‘and without danger
or error we can merge the consideration of its wor-
ship almost altogether is this element.’ This sounds
rather extravagant and is hardly needed in any case;
for sufficient reason for its deification can always be
found in its mysterious nature and awful powers of
destruction, as well as in its kind and constantly
‘renewed services, if gratitude have any power in mak-
ing a god. The mere guarding and holding sacred
a particular fire probably originated in the importance
of possessing an unfailing source of the element, and in
the difficulty of its production if allowed to die out,
‘among men not possessed of the appliances of civiliza-
tion.

When we come to review the gods in general, those
connected with fire will be pointed out as they appear;
for the present, let it suffice to say that many American
peoples had such gods, or had ceremonies suggesting
their existence and recognition, or lastly, had legends of
the origin or procurement of the fire they daily used on
the altar or on the hearth. In the Pueblos of New
Mexico, and more especially among the Pecos, sacred
perpetual fires were kept up by special command of
their traditionary god and ruler Montezuma; but these
fires were not regarded as fetiches.” The Mexican
fire-god was known by the name of Xiuhtecutli, and
by other names appertaining to the different aspects
in which he was viewed. While preserving his own
well-marked identity, he was evidently closely re-

Mendieta, Hist, Holes, p. 81. The word tecutié is of frequent occurrence as 4
termination in the names of Mexican gods, It es ‘lord’ and is written
with various Leno, a I follow that given by Molina’s Vocabulary

13 Tylor's Prim. Cult,, vol, ii., p. 269.
;. "s Myths

\ .148,
13 Ward, in Ind, Af. Repi,, 1864, p. 193,

nstantly
in. mak-
, SAC

portance
t, and in
die out,
civiliza-

ral, those
y appear;
American
uggesting
nents of
y used on
S of New
8, sacred
mand of
but these
Mexican
utli, and
t aspects
» his own
lusely re-

currence as &
and is written

HOW THE CAHROCS OBTAINED FIRE. 115

lated also to the sun-god. Many and various, even
in domestic life, were the ceremonies by which he
was recognized; the most important ritual in connection
with his service being, perhaps, the lighting of the new
fire, with which, as we shall see, the beginning of every
Mexican cycle was solemnized.”®
There are various fables scattered up and down among

the various tribes regarding the origin or rather the pro-
curing of fire. We know how the Quichés received it
from the stamp of the sandal of Tohil; how, from the

home of the cuttle-fish, a deer brought it to the Ahts in

a joint of his leg; how from a distant island the great
Yehl of the Thlinkeets fetched the brand in his beak
that filled the flint and the fire-stick with seeds of eter-
nal fire.

The Cahrocs hold that, when in the beginning the crea-
tor Chareya made fire, he gave it into the custody of two
old hags, lest the Cahrocs should steal it. The Cahrocs,
having exhausted every means to procure the treasure,
applied for help to their old friend the Coyote; who, :
having maturely, considered how the theft might best
be accomplished, set about the thing in this way:
From the land of the Cahrocs to the home of the old
women he stationed a great company of animals, at
convenient distances; the strongest nearest the den of the
old beldames, the weakest farthest removed. Last of
all he hid a Cahroc in the neighborhood of the hut, and,
having left the man precise directions how to act, he
trotted up to the door and asked to be let in out of the
cold. Suspecting nothing, the crones gave him ad-
mittance; ‘so he lay down in front of the fire, and made
himself as comfortable as possible, waiting for the further
action of his human accomplice without. In good time,
the man made a furious attack on the house and the old
furies rushed out at,once to drive off the invader. This
was the Coyote’s opportunity.’ Instantly he seized a

10g Hist, Gen., tom. i, lib, i., p. 16; 7 , Monarg, Ind.,
tom. ii., pp. 66-7} Brasscur de Bourbourg’ Hist. des Nat, Olv., tom. ti,, pp.
491-2 PP

~"rmenje-er=-eetreentemneneerteee ee sneer srNRer entero eter ser tne Ree tenet

116 ‘PHYSICAL MYTHS, ,

‘half-burnt brand and fled like‘a comet down the trail; and
‘the two hags, seeing how they had. been outwitted, turned

after him:in immediate and furious.chase. . It had gone
hard then with the hopes of the Cahrocs, if their four-
legged Prometheus had: trusted to his single speed ;_ but
just as he began to feel the pace tell on him, and just as
the wierd: women thought they were about, to. recover
the brand;:\the Cougar relieved him: of it. Great was
the “satisfaction of our wise Coyote, as he sank down,

clearing: his: sooty eyes and throat, and catching his

‘breath, to see the great lithe cat leap away with the
torch, and the hags gnash their choppy gums. as they
rushed by, hard in:pursuit, on the. dim trail of sparks.
The Cougar: passed. the brand to the Bear, the Bear to
his neighbor, and so on to theend. Down the long line

of carriers, the ‘panting: crones plied their withered old
degs in vain; only two mishaps occurring among all the

animals that made up the file. ‘The squirrel, last.in the
train: but one, burned his tail so badly that it curled up
over his: back; and even scorched the skin. above his
shoulders, ‘Last of all, the. poor Frog, who received the
brand when it had burned down to a very little piece,
hopped along so heavily that his pursuers gained on him,
gained fast and surely. In vain he gathered himself for
every spring, in vain he stretched at every leap till the
jarred muscles cracked again. He was caught. The
smoke-dimmed eyes: stood out from his head, his little

heart thumped like a club against the lean fingers that

closed upon his body—yet that wild croak was not the
croak of despair. Once more for the hope of the Cah-
rocs! one more struggle for the Coyote that trusted
him in this great thing! and with a gulp the plucky
little martyr swallowed the fire, tore himself from the
hands’ that held him, leaped into a river, and diving
deep and long, gained his gaol; but gained it a mourn-
‘ful: wreck, the. handsome ‘tail; which, of all his race,
only the tadpole should ever wear again, was utterly gone,
left, like that of an O’Shanter’s mare, in the witch's
grasp; only the ghost of himself was left to spit out on

il; and
turn

ad gone
ir four-
ed ; but
| just as
recover
reat was
1k. down,
hing his
with the
ag. they
f sparks.
> Bear to
long, line
hered old
ng all the
last.in the
curled up
above. his
| eived the
ittle piece,
ed on him,
nimeelf for
ap till the
ht. The
, his little
ingers that
as not the
the Cah-
at trusted
he plucky
from the
d diving

his race,
erly gone,
he witch's
it out on

@ mourn -

FIRE, THE LIGHTNING, ‘AND WIND. 117

some. pieces of wood the precious embers preserved. at 80
great a cost.’ And ‘it: is ‘because the Frog spat out this
fire upon ‘these ' pieces! of | wood: that it; can alwayaibe
extracted ‘again by rubbing, them hard: together. ¥,

The Navajos have a legend as to the ‘procuring of fie
that has many analogies’ to :the foregoing. . They. tel
how; when’ they ‘first’ ‘gained the earth, they were ai
out fire, and how the Coyote, the Bat, ‘and the Squirrel
agreed to procure it for them: The object of their: desire
seems to have’ been ‘in the possession: of the animals in
general, in some distant locality. The Coyote, having
attached pine splinters to his. tail, ran quickly, through
the fire and fled with his lighted prize. : Being keenly
pursued, however, by the other animals, he :svon ‘tired;
upon which the Bat relieved him, and dodging. and
flitting here and there, carried the splinters: still farther;
Then the Squirrel came to the assistance of the: Bat, and
succeeding ‘him ‘in his office, contrived to reach the
hearths of the Navajos with ‘the coveted embers.¥..,,.

The natives of Mendocino county;. California, believe
that lightning is. the origin-of fire, that a primeval bolt
hurled down by the Man Above fell upon:certain wood, °
from which, consequently fire can always be extracted by
rubbing two pieces together.”

From fire let us turn for a.moment to wind, whiose
phenomena, as might be expected, have not been allowed
to pass wholly, unnoticed. by the mythologies with which
we have to deal. _When we come to examine ideas
connected with death and with the soul of man and its
future, we shall find the wind, or the air, often in use.as
the best name,and figure for the expression of primitive
conceptions of that mysterious thing, the vital essence or
spirit. The wind too is often considered as a god, or at
least as the breath of a god, and in many American
languages the, Great Spirit,and the Great, Wind are one
and the same both in word and signification. The name

17 Powers’ Pomo,

'8 Katon, in Beboloa 8 Arch., vol. iv., 218-19.
19 Powers’ Pomo, M8. Rr

PHYSICAL MYTHS.

118

of the god Hurakan, mentioned in Quiché myths, still
signifies the Storm in many a language strange to his
worshipers, while in Quiché it may be translated Spirit,
or swiftly moving Spirit; * and the name of the Mexi-
can god Mixcoatl is eaid to be to this day the correct
Mexican term for the whirlwind.”

An interesting point here arises with regard to the
division of the heavens into four quarters and the naming
of these after the names of the wind. Dr. Brinton
believes this fact to be at the bottom of the sacredness
and often occurrence of the number four in so many
early legends, and he connects these four winds and
their embodiment in many quaternions of deities, with
the sacredness of the cross and its use among widely
separated nations, to whom its later Christian significa-
tion was utterly unknown.”

If we may suppose that the Great Spirit and the wind
are often represented under the form of an enormous bird,
we must connect with them, as their most inseparable
attributes, the thunder and the lightning; the first, as
we have so often seen, is the rustling or stridor of the
wings of the bird, the second is the flashing of his eyes.
The Raven of the Koniagas is not, however, as among
most other tribes of the great Northwest, the author of
these things; but their principal deity when he is angry
sends down two dwarfs, who thunder and _ lighten
according to his command.” Of the god Hurakan,
whom we have noticed as the etymon of the word hurri-
cane, the Popol Vuh says: ‘‘ The flash is the first sign
of Hurakan; the second is the furrow of the flash; the
third is the thunder-bolt that strikes;’™ and to the
Mexican god, Tlaloc, are also attached the same three
‘attributes.*

9 Bréssour de Bourbourg, S’il Eviste des Sources de l’ Hist, Prim. du Mezique,
* vt Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Ctv., tom. iii., p. 485; Brinton’s Myths,
p-
4 js 3 My
nlimber Hk! eae i > Mat

Limon thet tnd Syren ts Baetoneh F Vuh, p. 9.
% Ga Gama, Dos Piedras, pt. ii., Pd fi .

friend
pool an
again a

WATER AS A PURIFYING ELEMENT. 119

Turning to water, we find it regarded among many
tribes as the first of elemental things. It is from a pri-
meval ocean of water that the earth is generally sup-
posed to come up. Water is obviously a first and chief
nourisher of vegetable life, and an indispensable prere-:
quisite of all fertility; from this it is but a short step to
saying, that it is the mother of those that live by the
earth’s fertility. ‘Your mother, Chalchiuhtlicue, god-
dess of water,’ is a phrase constantly found in the mid-
wife's mouth, in her address to the child, in the Mexican
washing o: baptismal service.”

The use of water more or less sanctified or set apart or
made worthy the distinction ‘holy; the employment of
this in a rite of avowed purification from inherent sin,
at the time of giving a name,—baptism, in one word,—
runs back to a period far pre-Christian among the
Mexican, Maya, and other American nations; as
ancient ceremonies to be hereafter described will show.
That man sets out in this life-journey of his with a
terrible bias toward evil, with a sad and pitiful liability
to temptation. is a point upon which all religions are
practically unanimous. How else could they exist?
Were inan born perfect he would remain perfect, other-
wise the first element of perfection would be wanting;
and perfection admits of no superlative, no greater, no
god. Where there is a religion then, there is generally
a consciousness of sin voluntary and involuntary. How
shall I be cleansed? how shall my child be cleansed from
this great wickedness? is the cry of the idolater as well
as of the monotheist. Is it strange that the analogy be-
tween corporal and spiritual pollution should indepen-
dently suggest itself to both? Surely not. Wash and

be clean, is to all the world a parable needing no inter-
preter.”

% Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 197.

7 Singularly apt in this connection are the wise words that Carlyle, Past
and Present Chartism, book i., p. 233, puts into the mouth of his m:

friend Sauerteig,—‘ Strip thyself, go into the bath, or were it into the limpid
pool and running brook, and there wash and be clean; thou wilt step out
again a purerand abetter man. This consciousness of perfect outer pureness,

120 ‘PHYSICAL MYTHS. ~

The ceremc.:ial ‘use: of water followed the Mexican
through all his: life; though for the present we shall
only notice one more’custom connected with it, ‘the last
of all. “When ‘a’ body was buried; a vase'of clean, sweet
water was let down into the tomb; bright, clear, life-
giving and preserving water,—hope and love, dumb and
inarticulate, stretching vague hand toward a resurrection.

The Mexican rain and water god was Tlaloc, sender
of thunder and lightning, lord of the earthly paradise,
and fertilizer of earth; his wife was the Chalchiuhtlicue,
already mentioned.* Like Tlaloc was Quiateot, the
Nicaraguan rain-god, master of thunderbolts and general
director of meteorological phenomena.”

The Navajos puffed tobacco smoke straight up toward
heaven to bring rain, and those of them that carried a
corpse to burial were unclean till washed in water.” | In
a deep and lonely. cafion near Fort Defiance there is a
spring that this tribe hold sacred, approaching ‘it only
with much reverence and the performance of certain
mystic ceremonies, ‘They say it was once a boiling
spring, and that even yet if approached heedlessly or by
a bad Indian, its waters will seethe up and leap forth to
overwhelm the intruder."

The Zufiis had also a sacred spring; sacred to the rain-
god, who, as we see by implication, is Montezuma the
great Pueblo deity himself. No animal might taste of
its sacred waters, and it was cleansed annually with
vessels also sacred,—most ancient vases that had been
transmitted from generation to generation since times to

that to thy skin there now adheres no serotaes speck of im rtection, how it
radiates in on thee with cunning symbolic influences, to the very soul. .

It remains a religious duty from oldest time in the Enst...... Even the dull
English feel something of this; they have a saying, ‘' cleanliness is near of
kin to Godliness.”’’

% Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Messtco, tom. ii., pp. 16-16. ‘Era conosciuta
con altri nomi assai espressive, i quali 0 signi cavano i diversi effetti, che
cagionano l'ncque, o le diverse apparenze, co. vri, che formano col loro moto.
I Tlascallesi_ la chiamavano Mat enele, clot, ‘veatita di govua turchina.’
See also Miller, Retsen yn Mex., tom. iti.

9 Qvledo, Hite, Gen., tom. iv., pp. 46,

R “f Te peek in Schooleraft's Areh,, vel. iv., p. 91; Bristol, in Ind, Af.
¢
Ar ‘Back in Se in Sehooloraft 8 Arch,, vol. iv., p. 213,

ican
shall
last
aveet
life-
y and
tion.
nder
udise,
licue,
, the
meral

oward
ried &
® In
re is
t only
certain
boiling

or by
orth to

e rain-
a the
aste of

y with

been
mes to

in, how it
soull,...
h the dull
e near of
mosciuta
' ‘etti, che

pro moto.
lurchina.’

Ind, Aff.

~. THE EARTH, THE SEA, THE SKY. 11

which even tradition went not/back.: ‘These vessels were:
kept ‘ranged ‘on the wall of the well. The frog, the
rattlesnake, and the tortoise were depicted upon them,
and were sacred to the great patron of: the place, whose
terrible lightning should: consume the sucrilegious hand
that touched these hallowed relics.”

We have seen how the Californian tribes believe
themselves descended from the very earth, how the: bodi-
less ancestor of the Tezcucans came up from the soil, how
the Guatemaltecs, Papagos, and Pimas were molded
from the clay they tread, and how the Navajos came to
light from the bowels of a great mountain near the river
San Juan. It seems long ago and often to have come
into men’s mind that the over-arching heaven or
something there and the all-producing: earth are, as it
were, & father and mother to all living creatures. The
Comanches call on the earth as their mother, and on the
Great Spirit as their father. The Mexicans used to
pray: Be pleased, O our Lord, that the nobles who may
die in the war be peacefully and plcasinely received by
the sun and the earth, who are the father and mother of
all. It was probably, again, with some reference to the
motherly function of the earth that the same people,
when an earthquake came, took their children by the
head or hand, and lifted them up saying: The earth-
quake will make them grow.“ Sometimes they specified
a particular part of the earth as closer to them in this
relation than other parts. It is said that on the tenth
day of the month Quecholli, the citizens of Mexico and
those of Tlatelolco were wont to visit a hill cailed Caca-
tepec, for they said it was their mother.”

As to the substance, arrangement, end so on of the
earth and sky there remain one or two ideas not already
given in connection with the general creation. The
Tlascaltecs, and perhaps others of the Andhuac peoples,
believed that the __ was flat, and ending with the sea-

% Whipple, in Pac, R. 2 +» Vol, iii,, p. 39,

8 Sahajun, Hist, Gen., tom, v. "lid. vi, p. 49,

M Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom, ii,, lib, v., ‘APs pp. 21-2.
% Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. i., ‘lib, ii, p. 70,

122 PHYSICAL MYTHS.

shore, was borne up by certain divinities, who when.
fatigued relieved each other, and that as the burden was
shifted from shoulder tc shoulder earthquakes uccurred.
The sea and sky were considered as of one material, the sea
being more highly condensed; and the rain was thoug'at
to fall not from clouds but from the very substance of
heaven itself. The Southern. Californians believed that
when the Creator made the world he fixed it on the back
of seven giants, whuse movements, as in the preceding
myth, caused earthquakes.” The sky, according to cer-
tain of the Yucatecs, was held up by four brothers called
each of them Bacab, in addition to their several names,
which seem to have been Kan, Muluc, Ix, and Cauac.
These four, God had placed at the four corners of the
world when he created it, and they had escaped when all
else were destroyed by flood.™

In the interior of the earth, in volcanoes, subterranean
gods were often supposed to reside. The Koniagas, for
example, held that the craters of Alaska were inhabited
by beings mightier then men, and that these sent forth
fire and smoke when. they heated their sweat-houses or
cooked their food.”

The rugged majesty of hills and mountains has not
been without its effect on the reverential mind of the
American aborigines, Direct worship was unusual, but
several incidents must have already informed the reader
that a kind of sanctity is often attached to great eleva-
tions in nature. A predilection for hills and mounds as
landmarks and fanes of tradition, and as places of wor-
ship, was as common among the Americans as among the

ple of the old world. The Choles of the province of
Ftaa had a hill in their country that they regarded as
the god of all the mountains, and on whieh they burned
a perpetual fire.” The Mexicans, praying for rain, were

» Met, de Tlaecallan, in Nouvelles Annales ds Voy., 1834, tom.

% Ca
xovili,, p.
7 Retd, in Los Angeles Star,
38 Landa, Rel, de las Cosas de Yucatan, p, 206,
% Holmberg, Ethn, Skls., p. 141,
4 Villague re, Hist. Cong. de Itaa, pp. 151-2,

shen.
was
rred.
e sea
ug'at
ce of
. that
back
eding
) cer-
called
ames,
Jauac.
of the
hen all

ranean
xaS, for
habited
+ forth
puses OF

as not
of the
al, but
, reader
eleva-
nds as
of wor-
ong the
ince of
ded as
burned
n, were

834, tom.

HILLS AND MOUNTAIN RANGES.

accustomed to vow that they would make images of the
mountains if their petitions were favorably received ;*
and, in other points connected with their religion to show,
as has appeared and will appear both with them and
with other people, their recognition of a divinity abid-
ing on or hedging about the great peaks. What wonder,
indeed, that to the rude and awe-struck mind, the ever-
lasting hills seemed nearer and liker heaven than the
common-place level of earth? and that the wild. man
should kneel or go softly there, as in the peculiar pre-
sence of the Great Spirit? This is hardly a new feeling,
it seems an instinct and custom as old as religion.
Where went Abraham in that awful hour, counted to him
for rielvsonsness through all the centuries? Where
smoke. (9% thunderings and lightnings that heralded
the delivery of the Law, when the son of Amram talked
with Jehovah face to face, as a man talketh with his
friend? Whence saw a greater than Moses the kingdoms
of the world and the glory of them? whence, in the all-
nights that came after, did the prayers of the Christ
ascend? and where stood he when his raiment became
as no fuller on earth could white it, Moses and Elias
talking with him, and Peter so sore afraid?

Where hills were not found conveniently situated for
purposes of worship, they seem to have been counterfeit-
ed after man’s feeble fashion: from high-place and
mound, from pyrumid and teocalli, since the morning
stars sang togetiicr, the smoke of the altar and the
censer has not censad to ascend. But the day begins
to broaden out, and the mists of the morning flee
away; thougi the ills be not lowered, God is lifted
up. Yet they have iueir glory and their charm still
even to us, and to the savage they often appear as
the result of a special and several creation. We remem-
ber how the Great Spirit made Mount Shasta as his
only worthy abiding-place on earth; and I give here
another legend of a much more trivial sort than the first,

" Sahajun, Hist, oo., tom, t, lib, ti, p. 177,

123

1% PHYSICAL MYTHS. |

telling how, not Mount Shasta alone, but all the mount-;
ains of California were built: and put into position :—?
At a time when the world was covered with water: there
existed a Hawk and a Crow and a very small Duck.
The latter, after diving to the bottom and bringing up a
beakful of mud, died; whereupon the Crow and the Hawk
took each a half of the mud that 1.3 been brought up,
and set to work to make the mountains. Beginning at
a place called Teheechaypah Pass, they built northwards,
the Hawk working on the eastern range.and the Orow
on the western. It was a long and weary toil, but in
time the work was fix sis’. and as they laid the last
peak the workers met ai t Shasta. Then: the Hawk
saw that there had been :.: i. play somewhere, for the
western range was bigger than his; and he charged the
Crow with stealing some of his'mud. But the smart
bird laughed a hoarse guffaw. in the face of his eastern
brother, not even taking the trouble to disown the theft,
and chuckled hugely over his own success: and western
enterprise. The honest Hawk was’ at his wits’ end, and
he stood thinking with his head on one side for quite a
long time; then in an absent kind of way he picked up
a leaf of Indian tobacco and began to chew, and wisdom
came with chewing. And he. strengthened himself
mightily, and fixed his claws in the mountains, and
turned the whole chain in the water like a great floating
wheel, till the range of his rival had changed places ‘vith
his, and the Sierra Nevada was on the east and the
Coast Range on the west, as they remain to this day,

This legend is not without ingenuity in its way but
there is more of human interest in the following pretty
story of the Yosemite nations, as to the origin: of the
hames and present ee of certain peaks and other
natural features of their valley :—

A certain Totokénula was once. chief of the people
here; a mighty hunter and a good husbandman, his

42 Powers’ Pomo, MS. This is a tradition of the Yocuts, a Californian
tribe, occupying the Kern and Tulare basins, the middle San Joaquin, and
the various streams running into Lake Tulare,

nart
tern.
heft,
stern.
and

ite a
a up
sdom
nself
| and
Ming
vith
the

y but
retty

the
other

t i
; 18
ornion
n, and

TOTOKONULA AND TISAYAC OF YOSEMITE. —~ 125

tribe never wanted food: while: he attended to their wel-
fare, But a change came; while out hunting one day,
the young man met a spirit-maid, the guardian angel of
the. valley, the beautiful Tisayac. She was not as the
dusky beauties of his tribe, but white and fair, with roll-
ing yellow tresses that fell. over. her shoulders like sun-
shine, and blue eyes with a light in them like the sky
where: the sun goes down. White, cloudlike wings were
folded behind her shoulders, and her voice was sweeter
than the song of birds; no wonder the strong chief loved
her with a mad and instant love. He reached toward
her, but the snowy wings lifted her above his sight, and
he stood again alone upon the dome, where she had been.
No. more Totokdénula led in the chase or heeded
the crops in the valley; he wandered here and there
like a man distraught, ever seeking that wonderful shin-
ing vision that had made all else on earth stale and un-
profiteble in his sight. The land began to languish,
missing the industrious directing hand that had tended
it so long; the pleasant garden became a wilderness
where the drought laid waste, and the wild beast spoiled
what was left, and taught his cubs to divide the prey.
When the fair spirit returned at last to visit her valley,
she wept to see the desolation, and she knelt upon the
dome, praying to the Great Spirit for succor, God
heard, and stooping from his place, he clove the dome
upon which she stood, and the granite was riven beneath
her feet, and the melted snows of the Nevada rushed
through the gorge, bearing fertility upon their cool bosom.
A beautiful lake was formed between the cloven walls of
the mountain, and a river issued from it to feed the
valley forever. Then sang the birds as of old, laving their
bodies in the water, and the odor of flowers rose like a
pleasant incense, and the trees put forth their buds, and
the corn shot up to meet the sun and rustled when the
breeze crept through the tall stalks.
Tisayac moved away as she had come, and none knew
whither she went; but the people called the dome by
her name, as it is indeed known to this day. After her

126 PHYSICAL MYTHS.

departure the chief returned from his weary quest; and
as he heard that the winged one had visited the valley,
the old madness crept up intc his eyes and entered,
seven times worse than at the first, into his empty soul;
he turned his back on the lodges of his people. His last
act was to cut with his hunting-knife the outline of his
face upon a lofty rock, so that if he never returned his
memorial at least should remain with them forever. He
never did return from that hopeless search, but the
graven rock was called Totokdénula, after his name,
and it may be still seen, three thousand feet high, guard-
ing the entrance of the beautiful valley.*

Leaving this locality and subject, 1 may remark that
the natives have named the Pdhono Fall, in the same
valley, after an evil spirit; many persons having been
swept over and dashed to pieces there. No native of the
vicinity will so mich as point at this fall when going
through the valley, nor could anything tempt one of
them to sleep near it; for the ghosts of the drowned are
tossing in its spray, and their wail is heard forever above
the hiss of its rushing waters,“

43 Hutchings’ Cal, Mag., vol. iv., pp. 197-9,
44 Hutchings’ Cal. Mag., vol. iv., p. 243,

|
?
i
E

Ss tm

CHAPTER IV.

ANIMAL MYTHOLOGY.

R6xes AsstGNep To ANIMALS—AUGURIES FROM THEIR MovVEMENTS-—THE IL1-
OMENED OwL—ToutTEeuAry ANIMALS—METAMORPHOSED Men—TuHE OGREss-
SqurnrE, or VANcouvER IstanD— MONKEYS AND BEAVERS—FALLEN MEN
—Tae Sacrep ANIMALS—PROMINENCE OF THE BrrD—AN EMBLEM OF
THE WinD—THE SERPENT, AN EMBLEM OF THE LiGHTNING—Nort Spr-
CIALLY CONNECTED WITH Evit—THE SERPENT OF THE PUEBLOs--THE
Warter-SnakE—-OpHIoLATRY—PROMINENCE OF THE DoG, OB THE CororTr
—GENERALLY THOUGH NOT ALWAYS A BENEVOLENT PowER—How THE
Coyorr LET SaLMoN uP THE KiamaraH-—-Dansz Macanre’ aND Sap
DratH oF THE Coyorr,

The reader must have already noticed the strange rdles
filled by animals in the creeds of the Native Races of the
Pacific States. Beasts and birds and fishes fetch’ and
carry, talk and act, in a way that leaves even sop's heroes
inthe shade; while a mysterigus and inexplicable influence
over human destiny is often accorded to them. It is of
course impossible to say precisely ‘how much of all this is
metaphorical, andy how much is held as soberly and
literally true. Probably the proportion varies all the
way from one extreme to the other among different
nations, and among peoples of. different stages of culture
in the same nation. They spake only in part, these
priests and prophets of barbaric cults, and we can under-
stand only in part; we cannot solve the dark riddle: of
the past; we can oftenest only repeat it, and even that in
a more or less imperfect manner. __.

The Mexicans had their official augurs and sooth-

128 ANIMAL MYTHOLOGY.

sayers, who divined much as did their brethren of classic
times. The people also drew omen and presage from
many things: from the howling of wild beasts at night;
the singing of certain birds; the hooting of the owl; a
weasel crossing a traveler's path; a rabbit running into
its burrow; from the chance movements of worms, bee-
tles, ants, frogs, and mice; and so on in detail.’

The owl seems to have been in many places considered
a bird of ill omen. Among all the tribes visited by Mr
Lord, from the Fraser River to the Saint Lawrence, this
bird was portentously sacred, and was a favorite decora-
tion of the medicine-men. To come on an owl at an
unusual time, in daylight for example, and to hear its
mystic cry, were things not desirable of any that loved
fulness of pleasure and length of days.? In California,
by the tribes on the Russian River, owls were held to be
devils or evil spirits incarnate."

We often find an animal adopted in much the same
way as a patron saint was selected by the medizeval knight.
The Hyperborean lad, for example, when he reaches man-
hood, takes:some beast or fish or bird to be his patron, and
the spirit connected with that animal is supposed to guard
him. Unlike most Indians, the Eskimo will have no
hesitation in killing an animal of his tutelary species;
he is only careful to wear a piece of its skin or bone,
which he regards as an amulet, which it were to him a
serious misfortune to lose. Prolonged ill luck some-
times leads a man to change his patron beast for another.
The spirits connected with the deer, the seal, the salmon,
and the beluga are regarded by all with special venera-
tion.‘

“The Mexicans used to. allot certain animals to certain
paris, of the body; perhaps in much the same way as
astrologers.:and alchymists used to connect the stars of
heaven with different substances and persons. The fol-
lowing twenty 'Mexican symbols were supposéd to rule

1 Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. v., pp. 1-24, r OD. pp. ! 25-6,
* Lord's Naturalist in’ Vancouver Islanil, vol, ii,, pp

3 Powers’ Pomo, MS.

4 Dall's Alaska, p. 145,

l
8
8
d
fi
d

fornia,
1 to be

» game
gnight.
3 man-
pn, and
b guard
ave no
pecies ;

bone,

him a
some-
other.
almon,
enera-

ertain
yay as
tars of
he fol-
to rule

_ THE HUMANITY OF ANIMALS. 129

over the various members of the human body: The sign
of the deer, over the right foot; of the tiger, over the
left foot; of the eagle, over the right hand; of the
monkey, over the left hand; of death,—represented by
a skull,—over the skull; of water, over the hair; of the
house, over the brow; of rain, over the eyes; of the dog,
over the nose; of the vulture, over the right ear; of the
rabbit, over the left ear; of the earthquake, over the
tongue; of flint, over the teeth; of air, over the breath;
of the rose over the breast; of the cane, over the heart;
of wind over the lungs—as appears from the plate in the
Codex Vaticanus, the Italian interpreter giving, how-
ever, ‘over the liver;” of the grass, over the intestines;
of the lizard, over the loins; and of the serpent over the
genitals.”

Sometimes the whole life and being of a ian was
supposed to be bound up in the bundle with that of some
animal. Thus, of the Guatemaltecs, old Gage quaintly
enough writes: ‘‘ Many are deluded by the Devil to be-
lieve that their life dependeth upon the life of such and
such a beast (which they take unto them as their familiar
spirit) and think that when that beast dieth they must
die; when he is chased their hearts pant; when he is
faint they are faint; nay it happeneth that by the devil's
delusion they appear in the shape of that beast.” °

Animals are sometimes only men in disguise; and
this is the idea often to be found at the bottom of that
sacredness which among particular tribes is ascribed to
particular animals.

The Thlinkeet will kill a bear only in case of great
necessity, for the bear is supposed to be a man that has
taken the shape of an animal. We do not know if they
think the same of the albatross, but they certainly will

5 Codew Vaticanus (Mewx.), in Kingshorough’s Mex. Antiq., vol. ii., plate 75;
Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano (Vaticano), in Kingsborough’s
Mew, Antig., vol. v., p.197, tav. Ixxv.; Explanation of the Codex Vaticanus, in
Kingsborough’s Mex, Antig., vol. vi., pp. 222-3, plate Ixxv. It will be seen
tha; I have trusted more to the plate itself than to the Italian explanation.
As to Kingsborough's translation of that explanation, it is nothing but a gloss
with additions to and omissions from the original.

6 Faget, 4 Stal p. 334,

‘OL, TIT.

130 ANIMAL MYTHOLOGY.

not kill this bird, believing, like mariners ancient and
modern, that such a misdeed would be followed by bad
weather.’

Among the natives seen by Mr Lord on Vancouver Is-
land, ill-luck is supposed to attend the profane killing of
the ogress-squirrel, and the conjurers wear its skin as a
strong charm among their other trumpery. As tradition
tells, there once lived there a monstrous old woman with
wolfish teeth, and finger-nails like claws. She ate chil-
dren, this old hag, wiling them to her with cunning
and oily words, and many were the broken hearts and
empty cradles that she left. One poor Rachel, weeping
‘for her child and not to be comforted because it was not,
cries aloud: Oh, Great Spirit, Great Medicine, save my
son, in any way, in any form! And the great, good
Father, looking down upon the red mother pities her;
lo, the child’s soft brown skin turns to fur, and there
slides from the ogress’s grip no child, but the happiest,
liveliest, merriest little squirrel of all the west—but
bearing, as its descendants still bear, those four dark
lines along the back that show where the cruel claws
plowed into it escaping.®

Where monkeys are found, the idea seems often to
have occurred to men, to account for the resemblance of
the monkey to the man by making of the first a fallen
or changed form of the latter. We have already seen
how the third Quiché destruction of the human race ter-
minated thus; and how the hurricane-ended Sun of the
Air in Mexican mythology, also left men in the apish
state. The intelligence of beavers may have been the
means of winning them a similar distinction. The Flat-
head says these animals are a fallen race of Indians,
condemned for their wickedness to this form, but who
will yet, in the fulness of time, be restored to their hu-
manity.°

As we shall see more particularly, when we come to

1 Holmberg, Ethn. Skis., p. 30.

8 Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 52-4.
® Cox's Adven., vol. i., p. 263,

appiest,

st—but
r dark
1 claws

bften. to

lance of

» fallen

ay geen
ace ter-
} of the
e apish
peen. the
he Flat-
ndians,
but who
eir hu-

come to

SACREDNESS OF CERTAIN BRUTES. 181

deal with the question of the future life, it was a com-
mon idea that the soul of the dead took an animal shape,
sometimes inhabiting another world, sometimes this.
The Thlinkeets, for example, believed that their shamins
used to have interviews with certain spirits of the dead
that appeared to them in two forms, some as land ani-
mals, some as marine.”

The Californians round San Diego will not eat the
flesh of large game, believing such animals are inhabited
by the souls of generations of people that have died ages
ago; ‘eater of venison!’ is a term of reproach among
them.”

The Pimos and Maricopas had, if Bartlett’s account
be correct, some curious and unusual ideas regarding
their future state; saying that the several parts of
the body should be changed into separate animals; the
head would perhaps take the form of an owl, the feet
become wolves, and so on." The Moquis supposed that
at death they should be severally changed into animals
—-bears, deer, and such beasts; which indeed, as we
have already seen, they believed to have been their ori-
ginal form.”

Different reasons are given by different tribes for
holding certain animals sacred; some of these we have
already had occasion to notice. Somewhat different
from most, however, is that given by the Northern-Indian
branch of the Tinneh, for not eating the flesh of foxes,
wolves, ravens, and soon. This tribe are accustomed to
abandon the bodies of their dead wherever they happen
to fall, leaving them to the maws of kites or of any other
animals of prey in the neighborhood ; therefore nothing
but the extremest necessity can force any member of the
nation to make use of such animals as food."

Certain natives of Guatemala in the province of Acaldn,
called by Villagutierre Mazotecas, kept deer in so tame a
it Schooloratte deh, nn vy
1¢ Bartlett's Pers, Nar., vol. he

13 Ten Broeck, in Schooloraft 8 "ps vol. iv., p. 86.
" Hearne's Journey, p.

182 ANIMAL MYTHOLOGY.

state that they were easily killed by the least active soldiers.
These deer were held as sacred by the inhabitants; for
tradition told them that their greatest god had visited
them in this figure.* The Apaches greatly respect the
bear, neither killing him nor tasting his flesh. They
think that there are spirits of divine origin within or
connected with the eagle, the owl, and all birds perfectly
white. Swine, they hold to be wholly unclean.” Some
animals are sacred to particular gods: with the Zufiis,
the frog, the turtle, and the rattlesnake were either con-
sidered as specially under the protection of Montezuma,
—here considered as the god of rain,—or they were them-
selves the lesser divinitins of water.”

It is sometimes necessary to guard against being mis-
led by names. Thus the natives of Nicaragua had gods
whose name was that of a rabbit or a deer; yet these
animals were not considered as gods. The identity of
name went only to say that such and such were the gods
to be invoked in hunting such and such animals.”

The reader must have already noticed how important
is the part assigned to birds in our mythology, especially
in creation-myths. A great bird is the agent of the chief
deity, perhaps the chief deity himself. The sweep of
his wings is thunder; the lightnings are the ‘glances of
his eyes.” Chipewyans, Thlinkeets, Atnas, Koltschanes,
Kenai, and other nations give this being great prominence
in their legends.

Brinton believes this bird to be the emblem of the wind,
to be “a relic of the cosmogonal myth which explained
the origin of the world from the action of the winds, un-

15 Villagutierre, Hist. Cong, Itza, p. 43.

16 Charlton, in Schooleraft’s Arch., vol. v., p. 209

Ww la a Ewbank, and Turner's Rept., pp. 39-40, in Pac. R. R. Rept,
vol. i

is Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 54-5.

\9 Swinburne, ‘Anactoria, has found an allied idea worthy of his sublime

verse :—
‘Cast forth of heaven, with feet of awful gold,
And plumeless wings that make the bright air blind,
Lightning, with thunder for a hound behind,
Hunting through fields unfurrowed and unsown—’

Ts.
for
ted
the
hey
1 or
ctly
jome
nflis,
con-
uma,
hem-

mis-
| gods
these
ity of
e gods
}

ortant
ecially
e chief
eep of
ces of
hanes,
inence

q wind,

lained
0 8, un-

R. Rept.,

3 sublime

THE WIND OR THUNDER BIRD.

188

der the image of the bird, on the primeval ocean ;’” and
his view is probably correct in many cases.

The savage is ever ready to be smitten by natural
powers. Ignorant and agape with wonder, is it unnatural
that he should regard, with a superstitious awe and re-
spect, the higher and more peculiar animal gifts, relating
them to like physical powers, and managing to mix and
confuse the whole by a strange synthesis of philosophy ?
Birds flew, the winds flew; the birds were of the kith of
the winds, and the winds were of the kin of the gods
who are over all. Poor, weary, painted man, who could
only toil dustily along, footsore and perhaps heartsore,
with strange longings that venison and bear-meat could
not satisfy,—was it very wonderful if the throbbing
music and upward flight of the clear-throated and swift-
winged were to him very mysterious and sacred things?
“ All living beings,” say the north-eastern Eskimos,
“have the faculty of soul, but especially the bird.” From
the flight and song of birds, the Mexican divined and
shadowed forth the unborn shapes of the to-come. He
died too, if he died in an odor of warlike sanctity, in
the strong faith that his soul should ultimately take the
form of a bird and twitter through the ages in the purple
shadows of the trees of paradise.”

The Kailtas on the south fork of the Trinity in Cali-
20 Brinton’s Myths, p. 205. The Norse belief is akin to this:—

*The giant Hrsuelgur,

At the end of heaven,

Sits in an eagle’s form;

'Tis said that from his wings

The cold winds swee

Over all the nations.

Vafthrudvers maal; Grenville Pigott’s
translation, in Scandinavian Mythology, :

Scott, Pirate, chap. v., in the ‘Song of the Tempest,’ which he translates
Pyne porns mouth, shows that the same idea is still found in the Shetland
slands ;-—

Stern eagle of the far north-west,

Thou that bearest in thy grasp the thunderbolt,

Thou whose rushing pinions stir ocean to madness,.. .
Cease thou the waving of thy pinions,

Let the ocean sepons n her dark strength;

Cease thou the flashing of thine eyes,

Let the thunderbolt sleep in the armory of Odin.’

* Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. i, lib. iii, p. 265; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del
Messico, tom. ii., p. 5.

134 ANIMAL MYTHOLOGY.

fornia, though they do not turn the soul into a bird, do
say that as it leaves the body a little bird carries it up to
the spirit-land.”

The Spaniards of Vizcaino’s expedition, in 1602,
found the Californians of Santa Catalina Island venerat-
ing two great black crows, which, according to Sefior
Galan, were probably a species of bird known in Mexico
as rey de los zopilotes, or king of turkey-buzzards; he
adding that these birds are still the objects of respect
and devotion among most Californian tribes.”

As another symbol, sign, or type of the supernatural,
the serpent would naturally suggest itself at an early
dete to man. Its stealthy, subtle, sinuous motion, the
glittering fascination of its eyes, the silent deathly thrust
of its channeied Pati ohn marvel if the foolishest

of men, like the wisest of kings, should say “I know it
not; it is a thing too wonderful for me?” It seems to
be immortal: every spring-time it cast oi and crept from
its former skin, a crawling unburnt phoerix, a new ani-

mal.

Schwartz, of Berlin, affirms, from deep research in
Greek and German mythology, that the paramount
germinal idea in this wide-spread serpent-emblem is the
lightning, and Dr. Brinton develops the same opinion at
some length.”

Tlaloc, the Aztec rain-god, held in his hand a. ser-
pent-shaped piece of gold, representing most probably
the lightning. Hurakan, of the Quiché legends,
is otherwise the Strong Serpent, he who hurls
below, referring in all likelihood to storm powers as
. thunderer.* This view being accepted, the lightning-

% Powers’ Pomo, M8.

% T'orquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. i., p. 713; ‘The entire tribes of the
Californian Indiania [sic appear to have had a great devotion and venera-
tion for the Condor or Yellow-headed Vulture.’
25th, 1860. ‘Cathartes Californianus, the large
Americe,’ Baird'y Birds of N, Am., p. 5. ‘This bird is an object of great
veneration or worship among the Indian tribes of every portion of the state.’

, in Los A tar.

% Brinton’s Myths, p. 112,

5 Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 46-71; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del
Messico, tom. ii., pp. 14-15; Gama, Dos Piedran, pt. ii., pp. 76-7,

d, do
up to

1602,
nerat-
Sefior
[exico
s; he

espect

tural,

early
mn, the
thrust
lishest
now it
ems to
ot from
Ww ani-

rch in
mount
is the
ion at

& ser-
obably
pgends,
hurls
ers as
tning-

ps of the
di venera-
ner, Mai
of No
of great
he state.’

a Ant. del

THE CROSS AND THE FOUR WINDS. 185

serpent is the type of fruitfulness; the thunder
storm being inseparably joined with the thick, fer-
tilizing summer showers.” Born, too, in the middle
heaven, of a cloud mother and of an Ixion upon whom
science cannot yet place her finger, amid moaning breeze
and threatening tempest, the lightning is surely also
akin tothe wind and to the bird that is their symbu!.
The amalgamation of these powers in one deity seems to
be what is indicated by such names as Quetzalcoatl,
Gucumatz, Cukulcan, all titles of the God of the Air in
different American languages, and all signifying ‘ Bird-
Serpent.’

In a tablet on the wall of a room at Palenque is a
cross surmounted by a bird, and supported by what ap-
pears to be the head of a serpent: “The cross,” says
Brinton, “ is the symbol of the four winds; the bird and
serpent, the rebus of the air god, their ruler.”

It does not appear that savages attach any special signi-
ficance of evil to the snake, though the prepossessions
of early writers almost invariably blind them on this
point.” This rule is not without its exceptions however ;
the Apaches hold that every rattlesnake contains the
soul of a bad man or is an emissary of the Evil Spirit.”
The Piutes ~f Nevada have a demon-deity in the form
of a serpent still supposed to exist in the waters of Pyra-
mid Lake. The wind when it sweeps down among the
nine islands of the lake drives the waters into the most
fantastic swirls and eddies, even when the general surface
of the lake is tolerably placid. This, say thie Piutes, is
the devil-snake causing the deep to boil like a pot; this
is the old serpent seeking whom he may devour; and no
native in possession of his five sober wits will be found
steering toward those troubled waters at such a time.”

In the Pueblo cities, among the Pecos especially, there
existed in early times an immense serpent, supposed to
be sacred, and which, according to some accounts, was

£6 Miller, Amertbanische vivengtones, p. 500.
a FY saad ay Cult,, vol, ii., p. 217

rlton, in Behoolorat 8 Arch,, vol, v.
® Virgina € ity Chron

in 8. F Daily lnky Poet, of Aug. 12th, 1872,

136 ANIMAL MYTHOLOGY.

fed with the flesh of his devotees, Gregg heard an
“honest ranchero” relate how, one snowy morning, he
had come upon this terrible reptile’s trail, ‘‘ large as that
of a dragging ox;”’ the ranchero did not, pursue the in-
vestigation farther, not obtrudi.g his science, such as it
was, upon his religion, This serpent was supposed to
be specially connected with Montezuma, and with rain
phenomena: it is often called ‘‘the great water-snake.”
It was described to Whipple ‘as being as large round
as a man’s body; and of exceeding great length, slowly
gliding upon the water, with long wavy folds” like the
Nahant sea-serpent,—to Mollhausen, as being a great
rattlesnake, possessor of power over seas, lakes, rivers and
rain; as thick as many men put together, and much
longer than all the snakes in the world; moving in great
curves and destroying wicked men. The Pueblo In-
dians prayed to it for rain and revered its mysterious
powers.”

A people, called by Castafieda Tahus, apparently of
Sinaloa in the neighborhood of Culiacan, regarded cer-
tain large serpents with sentiments of great veneration
if not of worship.” These reptiles seem also to have
been regarded with considerable reverence in Yucatan,
In 1517, Bernal Diaz noticed many figures of serpents in
a temple he saw at Campeche. Juan de Grijalva, also,
found at the same time many such figures at Champoton,
among other idols of clay and wood.”

We have already spoken of the Mexican Tlaloc and of
the frequent appearance of the serpent in his worship;
it does not appear, however, notwithstanding Mr Squier's
assertion to the contrary, that that the serpent was actu-
ally worshiped either in Yucatan or Mexico. Bernal
Diaz, indeed, says positively in one passage, speaking of

30 0 i Prairies, vol. i,, pp. 271-2; "2 le, Ewbank, and Turner's
Rept., pp. 38-0, in Pac, R. R, Rept., vol. iii, dlihausen, Tagebuch, p. 170;
Domendoh i's Deserts, vol. i, Pe., 164-5, Serle” later travelers deny all tho
foregoing as ‘fiction and fa le;’ meaning, pre bably, that they saw nothing
of it, or that it does not exist at peveent ‘and, in Ind, .Ag’, Rept,, 1864, p.
193; Meline's Two Thousand Miles, p, 266,

u 1” i Voy, de Ctbola, in Ternaux-Compans, Voyayes, serie i, tom.

ix.,, p. 150
‘sa # Bernal Dias, Mist, Conq., fol, 3, 8.

d an
ig, he
s that
ne in-
. as it
sed to
1 rain
nake.”
round
slowly
ke the
, great
rs and
much
n great
lo In-
terious

ntly of
ed cer-
eration
io have
ucatan,
ents in
a, also,
npoton,

and of
orship;
quier's
s actu-
Bernal

ing of

dt Turner's
Ih, p. 1703
y all tho

y nothing
, 1864, p.

pi., tom.

THE DOG OF AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY. 187

a town called Tenayuca, that ‘they worshiped here, in
their chief temple, three serpents;”’ but the stout soldier
was not one to make fine distinctions between gods and
their attributes or symbols; nor, even with the best in-
tentions, was he or any other of the conquistadores in a
position to do justic:. to the faith of ‘ gentiles,’*

We shall hereafter find the serpent closely connected
with Quetzalcoatl in many of his manifestations, as well
as with others of the Mexican gods,

From the serpent let us turn to the dog, with his rela-
tions the wolf and coyote, an animal holding a respecta-
ble place in American mythology. We have seen how
many tribes derive, figuratively or literally, their origin
from him, and how often he becomes legendarily impor-
tant as the hero of some adventure or the agent of some
deity. He is generally brought before us in a rather
benevolent aspect, though an exception occurs to this in
the case of the Chinooks at the mouth of the Columbia.
With these the coyote figures as the chosen medium for
the action of the Evil Spirit toward any given malevo-
lent end,—as the form taken by the Evil One to coun-
teract some beneficence of the Good Spirit toward the
poor Indian whom he loves.™

Very different from this is the character of that Coyote
of the Cahrocs whose good deeds we have so often had
occasion to set forth. One feat of his yet remains to be
told,—how he stocked the river with salmon, Chareya,
the creator, had made salmon, but he had put them in
the big-water, and made a great fish-dam at the mouth
of the Klamath, so that they could not go up; and this
dam was closed with something of the nature of a white
man’s key, which key was given in charge to two old
hags, not wholly unfamiliar to us, to keep and watch
over it night and day, so that no Cahroc should get near
it. Now fish being wanting to the Cahrocs, they were
sorely pushed by hunger, and the voice of women and

% Bernal Diaz, Hist. Co fol, 186; Schooloraft's Arch., vol. v. 106,
M Lord's Nat. vol. ii, peas, ” sf

188 ANIMAL MYTHOLOGY.

little children was heard imploring food. The Coyote
determined to help them; he swore by the stool of Cha-
reya that before another moon their lodges should drip
with salmon, and the very dogs be satisfied withal. So
he traveled down the Klamath many days’ journey till
he came to the mouth of the river and saw the big-water
and heard the thunder of its waves. Up he went to the
hut of the old women, rapped, and asked hospitality for
the night; and he was so polite and debonair that the
crones could find no excuse for refusing him. He
entered the place and threw himself down by the fire,
warming himself while they prepared salmon for supper,
which they ate without offering him a bite. All night
long he lay by the fire pretending to sleep, but thinking
over his plans and waiting for the event that should put
him in possession of the mighty key that he saw hanging
so high above his reach. In the morning one of the
hags took down the key and started off toward the dam
to get some fish for breakfast. Like a flash the Coyote
leaped at her, hurling himself between her feet; heels
over head she pitched, and the key flew far from her
hands. Before she well knew what had hurt her the
Coyote stood at the dam with the key in his teeth,
wrenching at the fastenings. They gave way; and witha
great roar the green water raced through, all ashine with
salmon, utterly destroying und breaking down the dam,
so that ever after fish found free way up the Klamath.
The end of the poor Coyote was rather sad, considering
his kindness of heart and the many services he had ren-
dered the Cahrocs. Like too many great personages, he
grew proud and puffed up with the adulation of flatterers
and sycophants,—-proud of his courage and cunning, and
of the success that had crowned his great enterprises for
the good of mankind,—proud that he had twice deceived
and outwitted the guardian hags to whom Chareya had
entrusted the fire and the salmon,—so proud that he
determined to have a dance through heaven itself, hav-
ing chosen as his partner a certain star that used to pass
quite close by a mountain where he spent a good deal of

COYOTES MUST NOT DANCE WITH STARS. 189

his time. So he called out to the star to take him by
the paw and they would go round the world together for
a night; but the star only laughed, and winked in an
excessively provoking way from time to time. The
Coyote persisted angrily in his demand, and barked and
barked at the star all round heaven, till the twinkling
thing grew tired of his noise and told him to be quiet
and he should be taken next night. Next night the star
came quite up close to the cliff where the Coyote stood,
who leaping was able to catch on. Away they danced
together through the blue heavens. Fine sport it was
for a while; but oh, it grew bitter cold up there for a
Coyote of the earth, and it was an awful sight to look
down to where the broad Klamath lay like a slack bow-
string and the Cahroc villages like arrow-heads. Woe
for the Coyote! his numb paws have slipped their hold
on his bright companion; dark is the partner that leads
the dance now, and the name of him is Death. Ten
long snows the Coyote is in falling, and when he strikes
the earth he is “ smashed as flat as a willow-mat”.—
Coyotes must not dance with stars.”

3% Power's Pomo, MS.; Boscana, in Robinson's Life in Cal., pp. 259-262,
describes certain other Californians as worshiping for their chief god some-
thing in the form of a stuffed coyote.

CHAPTER V.
GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Esxrmmo Wircucorarr — THe TInNEH AND THE Kontacas—KuGANS OF THE
Aveuts—THE THLINKEETS, THE HAIDAHS, AND THE NooTKas—PARADISE
Losr oF THE OKANAGANS—THE SALISH, THE CLALLAMS, THE CHINOOKs,
THE CAYusEs, THE WALLA WALLAS, AND THE Nrz Prrckis—SHosHone
Guovurs—NortHeRN Catirornia—-THE Sun at Monterey--Ovtor anp
CuHINIGCHINICH -- ANTAGONISTIC Gops oF LowER CaLiForN1A — Coman-
cHEs, APACHES, AND Navasos—MowntTeEzuMA oF THE PuEBLOos—-Mogors
anpD Mosaves—-PrimEvaL Race or NoRTHERN CALIFORNIA.

We now come to the broadest, whether or not it
be the most important, branch of our subject, namely,
the gods and spirits that men worship or know of.
Commencing at the extreme north, we shall follow
them through the various nations of our territory
toward the south. Very wild and conflicting is the
general mass of evidence bearing on a belief in
supernatural existences. Not only from the nature
of the subject is it allied to questions and matters
the most abstruse and transcendental,—in the ex-
pression of which the exactest dialectic terminology
must often be at fault; much more the rude and stam-
mering speech of savages—but it is also apt to call up
prejudices of the most warping and contradictory kind
in the minds of those through whose relation it must
pass to us. However hopeless the task, [ will strive to
hold an equal beam of historical truth, and putting away
speculations of either extreme, try to give the naked
expression of the belief of the peoples we deal with,—

ESKIMO SHAMANISM.

141
however stupid, however absurd,—and not
ought to believe, or may be i
ing to the j

hunting,
hardly be looked u

OF THE
ARADISE
IINOOKS,

JOSHONE both male
IOT AND

fit of his
ComaAn-
-Moqours

» and very

‘ Siberian
ae it ay be summed
me. Y)

} witchcraft.
Ww Ol.
follow

stretching north of the
he Arctic Ocean and to the
A d ir various tribes to have
i " : to a supreme power,
e 4 A)
nature ;
latter's
@ eX- umong them ag a poor
10logy had found and was bri
ae self ridiculou
all up
- kind
- must
‘ive to
;away
naked
ith,-—

' Armstro 's Nar, . 109, ‘
Richardson's foun 1P 102, 193; Richardson

's Pol. Reg., pp, 319-20, 325;
ours, Vol. t., pp, 358, 385; Dall's Alaska, pp. es’ '

142 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

trail that led to a head. or two of freshly killed game.
They were glad enough to get the game and without
scruples as to its appropriation; still they felt curious as
to whence it came and how. Suspicion at last pointing
to the boy and his great shoes, as being in some way
implicated in the affair, he was watched. It soon
became evident that he was indeed the benefactor of the
Loucheux, and the secret hunter whose quarry had so
often replenished their empty pots; yet the people were
far from being adequately grateful, and continued to
treat him with little kindness or respect. On one occa-
sion they refused him a certain piece of fat—him who had
so often saved their lives by his timely bounty! That night
the lad disappeared, leaving only his clothes behind, hang-
ing on a tree. He returned to them in a month, however,
appearing as a man and dressed as a man. He told
them that he had taken up his home in the moon; that
he would always look down with a kindly eye to their
success in hunting; but he added, that as a punishment
for their shameless greed and ingratitude in refusing him
the piece of fat, all animals should be lean the long win-
ter through, and fat only in summer; as has since been
the case.

According to Hearne, the Tinneh believe in a kind of
spirits, or fairies, called nantena, which people the earth,
the sea, and the air, and are instrumental for both good’
and evil, Some of them believe in a good spirit called
Tihugun, ‘my old friend,’ supposed to reside in the sun
and in the moon; they have also a bad spirit, Chutsain,
apparently only a personification of death, and for this
reason called bad.

They have no regular order of shamdns; any one when
the spirit moves him may take upon himself their duties
and pretensions, though some by happy chances, or pecu-
liar cunning, are much more highly esteemed in this re-
gard than others, and are supported by voluntary con-
tributions, The conjurer often shuts himeelf in his tent
and abstains from food for days till his earthly grossness
thins away, ard the spirits and things unseen are con-

| game.
vithout
ious as
ointing
1e way
t soon
r of the
had so
le were
ued to
le Occa-
yho had
at night
|, hang-
pwever,
de told
n; that
to their
ishment
ing him
ng win-
ce been

kind of
2 earth,
th good
it called
the sun
hutsain,
for this

ne when
ir duties
or pecu-
this re-
iry con-
his tent
srossness
are con-

dwindle wit,
in the shadow of
to expel the evil ¢

shamdns over

10 Alp on t

shriek, sing, groan

with other ‘details
with tribe and locality,
the most part denied, and th

_ of spirits haunt.
ngs to the shaming. vii Sheth “4

and :
r Ph human sac rifices of claves, The”
and a power for evi] yo -ePitit, called Shij 4
power for evil called Byak,* Jam Schoé,

PP. 318-19; Jaryiy? Reli

Mac t) Vout im
Weonian Rept., 1866, ‘

ou » De ; :
ours Vol. i., pp, 986-6; Dail? daha
1 p. 174,

144 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Of the Aleuts, it is said that their rites showed a much
higher religious development, than was to be found among
any of their neighbors; the labors of the Russian priests
have, however, been successful enough among them to
obliterate all remembrance of aught but the outlines of
their ancient cult. They recognize a creator-god, but
without worshiping him; he had made the world, but
he did not guide it; men had nothing to do any longer
with him, but only with the lesser kugans, or spirits, to
whom the direction and care of earthly affairs have been
committed. The stars and the sun and the moon were
worshiped, or the spirits of them among others, and
avenged themselves on those that adored them not. The .
offended sun smote the eyes of a scoffer with blindness,
the moon stoned him to death, and the stars constrained
him to count their number—hopeless task that always
left the victim a staring maniac. The shamdans do not
seem to have enjoyed that distinction among the Aleuts
that their monopoly of mediation between man and the
invisible world gave them among other nations. They
were generally very poor, living in want and dying in
misery; they had no part nor lot in the joys or sorrows
of social life; never at feast, at wedding, or at a funeral
was their face seen. They lived and wandered men for-
bid, driven to and fro by phantoms that were their mas-
ters and not their slaves. The Aleuts had no permanent
idols, nor any worshiping-places built with hands; near
every village was some sanctified high place or rock,
sacred as a Sinai against the foot of woman or youth,
and whoever profaned it became immediately mad or
sick to death. Only the men and the old men visited
the place leaving there their offerings of skins or feathers
with unknown mysterious ceremonies.

The use of amulets was universal; and more than
shield or spear to the warrior going to battle was a belt
of sea-weed woven in magic knots. What a philosopher's
sione was to a Roger Bacon or a Paracelsus, was the
tkhimkee, a marvelous pebble thrown up at rare inter-
vals by the sea, to the Aleutian hunter. No beast could

a much
among
priests
hem to
lines of
od, but
tld, but
longer
irits, to
ve been
mn. were
rs, and

. The.

ndness,
trained
always
3 do not
. Aleuts
and the

They

lying in
sorrows
funeral
nen tor-
oir mas-

‘manent
ls; near
or rock,
r youth,
mad or
1 visited
feathers

re than
us a belt
sopher's
was the
re inter-
wst_ could

when a
18 eyes—Q naked
4¢ darkest kugan

146 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

ter of these in the supernatural world, nor even their
comparative rank, can be established above contradiction.
Thus Yehl is said to be the creator of all beings and
things, yet we have not forgotten how Khanukh wrung
from the unwilling lips of him the confession: Thou art
older that I. [t is again said of Yehl that his power is
unlimited; but alas, we have seen him helpless in the
magic darkness raised by Khanukh, and howling as a
frightened child might do in a gloomy corridor. The
nature of Yehl is kind and he loves men, while the re-
verse is generally considered true of Khanukh; but Yehl,
too, when his anger is stirred up sends sickness and evil
fortune. Yehl existed before his birth upon earth; he
cannot die nor even become older. Where the sources
of the Nass are, whence the east-wind comes, is Nass-
shakieyehl, the home of Yehl; the east-wind brings
news of him. By an unknown mother a son was born
to him, who loves mankind even more than his father,
and provides their food in due season. To conclude the
matter, Yehl is, if not the central figure, at least the
most prominent in the Thlinkeet pantheon, and the
alpha and the omega of Thlinkeet philosephy and theol-
ogy is summed up in their favorite aphorism: As Yehl
acted and lived, so also will we live and do. After
Yehl and Khanukh, the Thlinkeets believe in the brother
and sister, Chethl and Ahgishanakhou, the Thunder or
Thunder-bird, and the Under-ground Woman. Chethl
is a kind of great northern rukh that snatches up and
swallows a whale without difficulty, while his wings and
eyes produce thunder and lightning as alreay described ;
his sister Ahgishanakhou sits alone below and guards
the Irminsul that supports the world of the North-west.’

The Tilinkeets have no idols, unless the little images

5 In Holmberg’s account of these Thlinkeet supernatural powers, not! »¢
is said of the sun or moon as indicating the possession of life by them
any qualities not material. But Dunn, The Oregon Territory, p. 2
Dixon, Voyage Round the World, pp. 189-90, describe at least some
tribes of the Thlinkeets and many tribvs of the Haidahs, that consider im
to be a great spirit moving over th earth once every day, animatiny ©!
keeping alive creatures, and, apparently, as being the origin of all; ‘ie
moon is a subordinate and: night witcher.

nour
stant
the y
place
talisn
skinn
of his
lawfu
have
visit t
to get
V its
vigil o
the de
Spirits

their sometimes carried by the magicians for charming with
ction. may be calied b that name; they have no worshi
s and nor priests, unless their Sorcerers and the rites of them
yrung may be entitled to these appellations, These sorcerers
ou art or shamans seem to be much respected ; their words and
wer is a actions are generally believed and uiesced in by all;
n the though the death of & patient or victim, or supposed vic~
Fas a 1M, 18 sometimes avenged upon them by the relatives of

The the deceased. Shaménism is mostly hereditary; as a natu-
he re-

ral course of things the long array of apparatus, masks,
Yehl, dresses, and s0 on, is inherited by the son or grandson
d evil of the d conjurer. The young man must, how-
h; he ever, prove himself worthy of his
yurces i

, by calling up and communicating
Nass- with spirits. The future shamén retires into a lonel
brings forest or up some mountain, where he lives retired, feed-
; born ing only on the roots of the panag-horr; um, and waiting
uther, or the spirits to come to him, which they are general]
le the Supposed to do in from two to four weeks, If all go weil
st the the meeting takes Place, and the chief of the spirits sends
d the to the neophyte a river-otter, in the tongue of which
theol- animal ig Supposed to be hid the whole power and secret
Yeh! of shamgnism. The man meets the beast face to face
After and four times, each time in a different fashion, he pro-
rother nounces the syllable ‘Oh!’ Upon this the other falls in-
Jer or stantly, reaching out at the same time its tongue, which
yhethl © man cuts off and Preserves; hiding it away in a close
p and place, for if any one not initiated Should look on this
8 and talisman the sight would drive him mad. The otter ig
ribed ; skinned by the new shamén and the skin ke
uards

» While the flesh is buried
west.® lawful to ki i
mages

148 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, ANU WORSHIP.

When all these things have been done the shamin re-
turns to his family emaciated and worn out, and his new
powers are immediately put to the test. His reputation
depends on the number of spirits at his command. The
spirits are called ye/:, and to every conjurer a certain
number of them arr; attached as familiars, while there
are others on whom he may call in an emergency; in-
deed every man of whatever rank or profession is
attended by a familiar spirit or demon, who only aban-
dons his charge when the man becomes exceedingly bad.
The world: of spirits in general is divided into three
Classes: keeyek, tdkeeyek, and tékeeyek. The first-class,
‘the Upper Ones,’ dwell in the north and seem
to be connected with the northern lights; they are
the spirits of the brave fallen in battle. The other two
classes are the spirits of those that died a natural death,
and their dwelling is called takankvu. The takeeyek,
‘land-spirits,’ appear to the shamdns in the form of land
animals, With regard to the tekeeyek, ‘sea-spirits’
which appear in the form of marine animals, there is
some dispute among the Thlinkeets as to whether these
spirits were ever the spirits of men like those of the other
two classes, or whether they were merely the souls of sea
animals,

The supreme feat of a conjurer's power is to throw one
of his liege spirits into the body of one who refuses to
believe in his power; upon which the possessed is taken
with swooning and fits. The hair of a shamin is never
cut. As among the Aleuts, a wooden mask is necessary
to his safe intercourse with any spirit; separate masks
are worn for interviews with separate spirits. When a
shamin sickens, his relatives fast for his recovery; when
he dies, his body is not burned like that of other men,
but put in » box which is set up on a high frame. The
first night following his death his body is left in that
corner of his hut in which he died. On the second
night it is carried to ancther corner, and so on for four
nights till it has occupied successively all the corners of
the yourt, all the occupants of which are supposed tu fast

an re-
is new
tation
The
ertain
there
y; in-
ion is
aban-
y bad.
» three
-class,
seem
2y are
er two
death,
eeyek,
of land
spirits’
lere 18
* these
2 other
sof sea

ow one
uses to
3 taken
never
pessary
masks
Vhen a
- when
ir men,
| The
in that
second
or four
ners of
to fast

hence its nam

SOLAR SPIRIT oF THE HAIDAHS,

149
during this time.

5 ‘
manes of the mighty dead.®
The Haidahs bel
creator and suprem
him with the materia

» PP. 52-73; Dali's Alas,
P. 58; Dunn's’ One: :
er

leve in one §
whom are
cipal objects of
brothers; tha

is Wrath, but
sends epidemicg,
while it the prin

dark-minded
were bo

( ‘ +, When Yeth! walked o
qui

in th
bird me their aha

© had

Mently “raven and
nnkids, who are supposed to

150 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

With some at least.of the Haidahs there was in exist-
ence a rite of this sorcery attended by circumstances of
more than ordinary barbarity and ferocity. When the
salmon season is over and the provisions of winter have
been stored away, feasting and conjuring begin. The
chief—who seems to be the principal sorcerer, and indeed
to possess little authority save from his connection with
the preter-human powers—goes off to the loneliest and
wildest retreat he knows of or can discover in the mount-
ains or forest, and half starves himself there for some
weeks till he is worked up to a frenzy of religious in-
sanity and the nawloks—fearful beings of some kind not
human—consent to communicate with him by voices or
otherwise. During all this observance, the chief is called
taamish, and woe to the unlucky Haidah who happens
by chance so much as to look on him during its continu-
ance; even if the taamish do not instantly slay the in-
truder, his neighbors are certain to do so when the thing
comes to their knowledge, and if the victim attempt to
conceal the affair, or do not himself confess it, the most
cruel tortures are added to his fate. At last the inspired
demoniac returns to his village, naked save a bear-skin
or a ragged blanket, with a chaplet on his head and a
red band of alder-bark about his neck. He springs on
the first person he meets, bites out and swallows one or
more mouthfuls of the man’s living flesh wherever he
can fix his teeth, then rushes to another and another,
repeating his revolting meal till he falls into a torpor from
his sudden and half-masticated surfeit of flesh. For

some days after this he lies in a kind of coma, ‘like an’

over-gorged beast of prey,” as Dunn says; the same
observer adding that his breath during that time is
“like an exhalation from a grave.” The victims of this
ferocity dare not resist the bite of the taamish; on the
contrary, they are sometimes willing to offer themselves
to the ordeal, and are always proud of its scars.’

The Nootkas acknowledge the existence of a great per-

Bp. 253-0; Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc. Jour., vol. xi.,
993; Banorefte ve Nat aces, vol. i., pp. 170-71.

ist-
3 of
the
ave
The
leed
with
and
yunt-
some
13 in-
d not
ces Or
called
ppens
ntinu-
he in-
» thing
»mpt to
1e most
! apired
ar-skin
and a
ings on
one or
over he
nother,
or from
For
like an’
e same
time i8
3 of this
on the
meelves

pat per-

vol. xi, Yt

NOOTKA GODS. 151

sonage called Quahootze, whose habitation is apparently

in the sky, but of whose nature little is known. When

a storm begins to rage dangerously the Nootkas climb to

the top of their houses and looking upwards to this great

god, they beat drums and chant and call upon his name,
imploring him to still the tempest. They fast, as some-
thing agreeable to the same deity, before setting out on
the hunt, and, if their success warrant it, hold a feast in
his honor afic: their return. This festival is held usually
in December, and it was formerly the custom to finish it
with a human sacrifice, an atrocity now happily fallen /
into disuse; a boy, with knives stuck through the super-
ficial flesh of his arms, legs, and sides, being exhibited as —
a substitute for the ancient victim.

Matlose is a famous hob-goblin of the Nootkas; he is

a very Caliban of spirits; his head is like the head of
something that might have been a man but is not; his
uncouth bulk is horrid with black bristles; his monstrous
teeth and nails are like the fangs and claws of a bear.
Whoever hears his terrible voice falls like one smitten,
and his curved claws rend a prey into morsels with a
single stroke.

The Nootkas, like so many American peoples, have a
tradition of a supernatural teacher and benefactor, an
old man that came to them up the Sound long ago. His
canoe was copper, and the paddles of it copper; ever
thing he had on him or about him was of the same metal.

He landed and instructed the men of that day in many
things; telling them that he came from the sky, that
their country should be eventually destroyed, that they
should all die, but after death rise and live with him
above. Then all the people rose up angry, and took his
canoe from him, and slow him; acrime from which their
descendants have derived much benefit, for copper and
the use of it have remained with them ever since. Huge
images, carved in wood, still stand in their houses in-
tended to represent the form and hold in remembrance
the visit of this old man,—by which visit is not improb-
ably intended to be signified an avatar or incarnation

152 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

of that chief deity, or great spirit, worshiped by many
Californian tribes as ‘the Old Man above.’

The Ahts regard the moon and the sun as their
highest deities, the moon being the husband and the
sun the wife. To the moon chiefly, as the more
powerful deity, they pray for what they require; and to
both moon and sun, as to all good deities, their prayers
are addressed directly and without the intervention of
the sorcerers, Quawteaht—which seems to be a local Aht
modification of Quahootze—-who made most things
that are in the world, was the first to teach the people to
worship these luminaries who, over all and seeing all,
are more powerful than himself, though more distant
and less active. There is also that Tootooch, thunder-
bird, of which so much has been already said.

The Nootkas, in general, believe in the existence of
numberless spirits of various kinds, and in the efficacy
of sorcery. As in neighboring nations, the shaman
gains or renews his inspiration by fasting and solitary
meditation in some retirod place, re-appearing at the end
of his vigil half-starved and half-insane, but filled with
the black virtue of his art. He does not generally col-
lect a meal of living human flesh like the taamish of the
preceding family, but he is satisfied with what his teeth
can tear from the corpses in the burial-places. Old
women are admitted toa share in the powers of sorcery
and prophecy and the interpretation of omens and dreams;
the latter a most important function, as few days and
nights pass over a Nootka house that do not give occasion
by some vision or occurrence for the office of the sibyl or
the augur.®

Mofras pears tom

Ha if a7 utchinga’ Cal, Magq., vol. v., pp. 222-4; Macfte's Vane, Isl., pp.

433-441, 455; Barvet-Lennard's Trav., pp. 51-3; Sproat's Svenes, PR. 40), 166-
5. p. $17, As illustrating

atrongly the Nootka ideas with regard to the sanctity of the moon and sun,

tion to the two following customs:-~' El Tays peg no puede hacer uso de sus
mugeres sin ver enteramente iluminado el disco de la luna.’ Sutil y Mewi-
cana, Viage, p. 145, ‘Girls at puberty ..are sept particularly from the sun or
fire.’ Bancrajt's Nat, Races, vol. i,, p. 197, In this connection it may be mon:

many The Okanagans believe in a good spirit or master of
life, called Elemehumkillanwaist or Skyappe; and in
their a bad spirit Kishtsamah or Chacha; both moving con
d the stantly through the air, so that nothing can be done
more without their knowledge. The Okanagans have no wor-
snd to ship public or Private, but before engaging in anything
payers of importance they offer Up & short prayer to the good
‘on of | spirit for assistance ; again on state Occasions, a pipe is
il Aht passed round and each One smokes th.ee whiffs toward
things the rising sun, the same toward the setting, and the same
pple to respectively toward the heaven above and the earth
ng all, neath. Then they have their great mythic ruler and
istant heroine, Scomalt, whose story is intimately connected with
inder- a kind of Okanagan fall or paradise lost, Lon 0, so
long ago that the sun was quite young and very small
nce of and no bigger than a star, there was an island far out at
fficacy sea called Samahtumiwhoolah, or the White Man’s
aman Island. It was inhabited by a white race of gigantic '
slitary stature, and governed by a tall fair woman called Scom-
1e end alt; and she was & great and strong ‘medicine,’ this
1 with ? Scomalt, At last the peace of the island was destroyed
ly col- by war, and the noise of battle was heard, the white men
of the ighting the one with the other: and Scomalt was exceed
: teeth ingly wroth. She rose up and said: lo, now I will drive
Old these wicked far from me; my soul shall be no lon er
orcery vexed concerning them, neither shall they trouble the
reams; faithful of my people with their strivings any more
‘8 and And she drove the rebellious together to the uttermost
casion end of the island, and broke off’ the piece of land on
byl or which they were huddled, and pushed it out to sea to
tioned that Mr Lord, Naturatist, vol, fi, p. 257, saw among the Nootkas
pp. 223- while at Fort Rupert, a Very peculiar Indian medicine," g solid piece of
eaves’ hative copper, hammered flat, oval it woul appear from the description, and
isl., ; printed With curiouy devices, eyes of all sizes elng especially conspicuous,
40, Aim ho Hudson-Bay traders call {¢ an ‘Tn copper, "’ t Was on!
ustrating exhibited on ©xtraordina Occasions, and that ity Value to the tribe was esti.
and sun, mated at fifteen alives or two hundred blankets, This « icine” wag
all atten served in an ela rately orna: en case, and pronging to the tribe
ao de sus hot to the chief, was gnarded by the medicine-men, Similar sheots of Cop.
by Meek Per are described by Schooleraft as n use among certain of the Veaperio
he sun or aborigines: yf they all be intended for symbols of the sun, such as that
‘be men: reverenced by the Peruvians?

154 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

drift whither it would. This floating island was tossed
to and fro many days and buffeted of the winds exceed-
ingly, so that all the people thervon died save one man
and one woman, who, seeing their island was ready to
sink, made themselves a canoe and gat them away to-
ward the west. After paddling day and night for many
suns, they came to certain islands, whence steering
through them, they came at last to where the mainland
was, being the territory that the Okanagans now inhabit;
it was, however, much smaller in those days, having
grown much since. This man and woman were so sorely
weather-beaten when they landed that they found their
original whiteness quite gone, and a dusky reddish color
‘ in its place. All the people of the continent are de-
scended from this pair, and the dingy skin of their storm-
tossed ancestors has become a characteristic of the race.
And even, as in time past the wrath of the fair Scomalt
loosed the island of their ancestors from its mainland,
and sent it adrift with its burden of sinful men, so in
a time to come, the deep lakes, that like some Hannibal's
vinegar soften the rocks of the foundations of the world,
and the rivers that run for ever and gnaw them away,
shall set the earth afloat again; then shall the end of the
world be, the awful iésowleigh.°

The Salish tribes believe the sun to be the chief deity,
and certain ceremonies, described by Mr Lord as having
taken place on the death of a chief, seem to indicate that
fire is in some way connected with the great light.’ The
chief is ex officio a kind of priest, presiding for the most
part at the various observances by which the deity of the
sun is recognized. There is the usual belief in sorcery
and second sight, and individuals succeed, by force of

® Rose’ Adven., pp. 287-9.

10‘'The bravest woman of the tribe, one used to carrying ammunition to
the warrior when engaged in fight, bared her breast to the person who for
courage and conduct was deemed fit successor to the departed. From the
breast he cut a small portion, which he threw into the fire. She then cut a
small piece from the shoulder of the warrior, which was also thrown into
the fire, A piece of bitter root, with a piece of meat, were next thrown into
the fire, all these bein intended as o rings to the Sun, the deity of the

Flatheads,’ 7'olmie, in ‘a Nat., vol. ii., pp. 287-8, For references to the
remaining matter of the paragraph see Jd., vol. ii., pp. 297-42 260,

3 tossed
>xceed-
ne man
ady to
yay to-
r many
teering
inland
nhabit ;
having
) sorely
1 their
h color
re de-
storm-
e race,
comalt
inland,
1, so in
nibal’s
world,
awiy,
of the

’ deity,
having
te that
The
e most
of the
sorcery
yrce of

nition to
1 who for
From the
hen cut a
pwp into
own into
ty of the
e8 to the

that the ol]
taken u

sufliciently gathe
which he runs

"" Kane's Wy
? This vol. te de

156 GODS, SUPERNATUAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

make a fire, and how to cook; for this the first fruits of the
fishing season are always sacred to him, and his figure is
to be found carved on the head of almost every Chinook
canoe on the Columbia. They have a fire-spirit, an evil
spirit, and a body of familiar spirits, tamanowas. Each
person has his special spirit, selected by him at an early
age, sometimes by fasting and other mortification of the
flesh, sometimes by the adoption of the first object the
child or young man sees, or thinks he sees, on visiting
the woods. These spirits have a great effect on the
imagination of the Chinooks, and their supposed direc-
tions are followed under pain of mysterious and awful
punishments; people converse—“ particularly when in the
water’’—with them, apparently talking to themselves in
low monotonous tones. Some say that when a man dies
his tamanowa passes to his son; but the whole matter
is darkened with much mystery and secrecy; the name
of one’s familiar spirit or guardian never being mentioned
even to the nearest friend. A similar custom forbids
the mention of a dead man’s name, at least till many
years have elapsed after the bereavement.

The Chinook medicine-men are possessed of the usual
powers of converse and mediation with the spirits good
and evil; there are two classes of them, employed in
all cases of sickness,—the e¢aminuas, or priests, who in-
tercede for the soul of the patient, and, if necessary, for
its safe passage to the land of spirits,—and the /eelalles,
or doctors, sometimes women, whose duty it is to ad-
minister medical as well as spiritual aid.”

With the Cayuses and the Walla-Wallas any one may
become a medicine-man; among the Nez Percés the office
belongs to an hereditary order. Women are sometimes
trained to the profession, but they are not believed to
hold such extreme powers as the males, nor are they
murdered on the supposed exercise of some fatal influ-

13 Wilkes’ Nar. in U. 8. Ee. Ee., vol. v., » PP: 124-5; Cow's Adven., vol. i., p.
317; Dunn's Oregon, Pp. 125-6; Franchare's mbt p. 258; Mo ras, Explor,
tom. ii, p. 954; Ross’ Adven., p. 96; Parke Tour, pp. 139, 246,
pall Tolmi:, in Lord's Nat., vol. ti, p. 248; Gibbs? Chinook Ve 1» pp. 11, 18;

Gibbs’, Clallam and Lummi Vocab., +» Pp. 16, 29; Irving's Astoria, pp. 33 339-40;
Tylor's Prim, Cult., vol. ii., p, 263,

ts of the
figure is
Chinook
, an evil
Each

in early
1 of the
ject the
visiting
on the
1 direc-
d awful
nin the
elves in
1an dies
matter
ie name
ntioned
forbids
l many

le usual
its good
yyed in
who in-
ary, for
keelalles,
to ad-

ne may
he office
netimes
eved to
re they
1 influ-
, vol, i., P.
"igor as
pp. 11, 18;
p. 339-40;

SHOSHONE DEMONS, 157
ence. For,

tion of sorce
the most da

one are accustomed
may find, leayj

urs, and i
tle demon

and make an end of her by finishin

meal, here jg another
call pahonahs, |
children ag do
complete the ri
Shoshone child

» Tour, p, 254; ‘The chiefs say, that the
t

4nd their song
themselves, and although hey pol be sick, and de.
rson, or some eyj Bpirit instigated
their death; and therefore when a
wre Supposed author of the deed must be killed,’
» in Schoolerayt's Areh., vol. v., p. 652,
’s Montana, Pp. 64-6,

158 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

The Californian tribes, taken as a whole, are pretty
uniform in the main features of their theogonic beliefs,
They seem, without exception, to have had a hazy con-
ception of a lofty, almost supreme being; for the most
part referred to as a Great Man, the Old Man Above, the
One Above; attributing to him, however, as is usual in
such cases, nothing but the vaguest and most negative
functions and qualities. The real, practical power that
most interested them, who had most to do with them and
they with him, was a demon, or body of demons, of a toler-
ably pronounced character. In the face of divers assertions
to the effect that no such thing as a devil proper has ever
been found in savage mythology, we would draw atten-
tion to the following extract from the Pomo manuscript of
Mr Powers—a gentleman who, both by his study and by
personal investigation, has made himself one of the best
qualified authorities on the belief of the native Californi-
an, and whose dealings have been for the most part with
tribes that have never had any friendly intercourse with
white men :—“ Of course the thin and meagre imagina-
tion of the American savages was not equal to the crea-
tion of Milton’s magnificent imperial Satan, or of Goethe's
Mephistopheles, with his subtle intellect, his vast powers,
his malignant mirth; but in so far as the Indian fiends
or devils have the ability, they are wholly as wicked as
these. They are totally bad, they have no good thing
in them, they think only evil; but they are weak and
undignified and absurd; they are as much beneath Satan
as the ‘ Big Indians’ who invent them are inferior in
imagination to John Milton.””

A definite location is generally assigned to the evil
one as his favorite residence or resort; thus the Cali-
fornians in the county of Siskiyou, give over Devil's
Castle, its mount and lake, to the malignant spirits, and
avoid the vicinity of these places with all possible care.

The medicine-man of these people is a personage of some
importance, dressing in the most costly furs; he is a non-
combatant, not coming on the field till after the fight ; among

17 Power's Pomo, MS.

pretty
beliefs.
zy con-
1e most
»ve, the
sual in
egative
er that
2m and
a toler-
ertions
as ever
r atten-
cript of
and by
he best
liforni-
rt with
se with
nagina-
e crea-
roethe’s
powers,
1 fiends
cked as
1 thing
ak and
n Satan
rior in

he evil
e Cali-
Devil's
ts, and
. care.

of some
}a non-
among

sacredness mixed
among the Cah

ing is
render

at even by becom} ici
twice the interior of this lode Sp diay fandionts,

8 Joagui ,
Oaquin Miller's Life amongst the Modocs, Pp. 21,

116, 259-60, 360,

160 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

The admission of a man to the medicine is a much
severer affair. He must retire to the forest for ten days,
eating no meat the while, and only enough acorn-porridge
to keep the life in him; the ten days past, he returns to
the sweat-house and leaps up and down till he falls, just
as the woman did.

The doctors or sorcerers are of two kinds, ‘root doctors’
and ‘barking doctors.’ To the barking doctor falls the
diagnosis of a case of sickness. He, or she, squats down
opposite the patient, and barks at him after the manner
of an enraged cur, for hours together. If it be a poison-
ing case, or a case of malady inflicted by some conjurer,
the barking doctor then goes on to suck the evil thing out
through the skin or administer emetics, as may be
deemed desirable. If the case, however, be one of less
serious proportions, the ‘barker,’ after having made his
diagnosis, retires, and the root-doctor comes in, who, with
his herbs and simples and a few minor incantations, pro-
ceeds to cure the silment. If a patient die, then the
medicine is forced to return his fee; and if he refuse
to attend on anyone and the person die, then he is forced
to pay to the relatives a sum equal to that which was
tendered to him as a {ve in the beginning of the affair;
thus like all professions, that of a medicine has its
draw-backs as well as advantages.

Several Northern Californian tribes have secret socie-
ties which meet in a lodge set apart, or in a sweat-house,
and engage in mummeries of various kinds, all to fright-
en their women. The men pretend to converse with the
devil, and make their meeting-place shake and ring again
with yells and whoops. In some instances, one of their
number, disguised as the master fiend himself, issues from
the haunted lodge, and rushes like a madman through
the village, doing his best to frighten contumacious
women and children out of their senses. This, it would
seem, has been going on from time immemorial and the
poor women are still gulled by it, and even frightened
into more or less prolonged fits of wifely propriety and
less easy virtue.

CALIFORNIAN DEITIEs,
The coast tribes
in constan

Screech-ow].

as wearing
having long

Practically,
Californian

» & coast tribe be
the sun here begins to

es of joy.

Father Gerdnimo Boscana” gives us the following
9 Powers’ Pom ‘

a pecchey's V

ugh th

Filled with the Prejudic
yet marvelously trut e; th
sed with regard to its m
0x6 too visible wren , and
icater
There are

Points,

®pparently the

162 GODS, SUPLENATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

relation of the faith and worship of the Acagchemem
nations, in the valley and neighborhood of San Juan
Capistrano, Califcraia. Part of it would fall naturally
into that part of this work alloted to origin; but the
whole is so intimately mixed with so much concerning
the life, deeds, and worship of various supernatural per-
sonages that it has seemed better to fit its present position
than any other. Of the first part of the tradition there
are two versions—if indeed they be versions of the same
tradition. We give first that version held by the serranos,
or highlanders, of the interior country, -hree or four
leagues inland from the said San Juan Capistrano:—
Before the material world at all existed there lived two
beings, brother and sister, of a nature that can not be
explained; the brother living above, and his name
meaning the Heavens, the sister living below and her
name signifying Earth. From the union of these two,
there sprang a numerous offspring. Earth and sand
were the first fruits of this marriage; then were born
rocks and stones; then trees both great and small; then
grass and herbs; then animals; lastly was born a great
personage called Ouiot, who was a ‘grand captain.” By
some unknown mother many children of a medicine race
were born to this Ouiot. All these things happened
in the north; and afterward when men were created
they were created in the north; but as the people multi-
= they moved toward the south, the earth growing
arger also and extending itself in the same direction.
In process of time, Ouiot becoming old, his chil-
dren plotted to kill him, alleging that the infirmities of
longest and the most valuable notice in existence on the religion o! a nation of
the native Californians, as existing at the time of the Spanish conquest, and
more worthy of confidence than the general run of such documents of any
Aate whatever. ‘The father procured his information as follows, Hv says:
‘God assigned to me three aged Indians, the peanpee of whom was o'er
seventy years of age. They knew all the secrets, for two of them were
= and the other a pul, who were well instructed in the mysteries. By
| endearments, and kindness, I elicited from them their secrets, wit
eir explanations; aud by witnessing the ceremonies which they performed,
T learned by degrees, their mysteries. Thus, by devoting a portion of the
nights to peed meditation, and comparing their actions with their dis-

closures, I was enabled after o re ag had acquire a kaowledge of their ro-
‘ein Cal., p.

ligion.’ Boscana, in Robinson's J,

Spectre
habitat
Then }
were «X
make
gi ve yo
and ple
another
others rn
game to
have thi

the men

164 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

that the gane fail not and the harvests be sure. Then
Chinigchinich made man; out of the clay of the lake he
formed him, male and female; and the present Califor-
nians are the descendants of the one or more pairs there
and thus created.

So ends the known tradition of the mountaineers;
we must now go back and take up the story anew at its
beginning, as told by the playanos, or people of the valley
of San Juan Capistrano. These say that an invisible
all-powerful being, called Nocuma, made the world and
all that it contains of things that grow and move. He
made it round like a ball and held it in his hands, where
it rolled about a good deal at first, till he steadied it by
sticking a heavy black rock called tosaué into it, as a kind
of ballast. The sea was at this time only a little stream
running round the world, and so erowded with fish that
their twinkling fins had no bonger room to move; so
great was the press that some of the more foolish fry
were for effecting a landing and founding a colony,
upon the dry land, and it was only with the utmost
difficulty that they were persuaded by their elders, that
the killing air and baneful sun and the want of feet must
infallibly prove the destruction before many days of all
who took part in such a desperate ente . The proper

lan was evidently to improve and e their present

ome; and to this end, principally by the aid of one very
large fish, they broke the great rock tosaut in two, find-
ing a bladder in the centre filled with a very bitter sub-
stance. The taste of it pleased the fish, so they emptied
it into the water, and instantly the water became salt
and swelled up and overflowed a great part of the old
earth, and made itself the new boundaries that remain
to this day.

Then ars created a man, shaping him out of the
soil of the earth, calling him Ejoni. A woman also the
great god made, presumably of the same material as the
man, calling her Aé. Many children were born to this
first pair, and their descendants multiplied over the land.

The name of one of these last was Sirout, that is to say,

THE FIRST MEDICINE-MAN,
Then

Handful of Tobacco, and the name of his wife wags Yea-
lake he iut, which means Above; and to Si

165

; Irout and Yeaiut was
Jalifor- rn @ son, while they lived in a place north-east about
s there eight leagues from San Juan Capistrano, he name of
this son was-Ouiot, that is to say Dominator, he grew a
jineers ; fierce and redoutable warrior haughty, ambitious, tyran-
y at its nous, he extended his lordship on every side, ruling
valley everywhere as with a rod of iron; and the people con-
wisible spired against him. It was determined thet he should
rid and die by Poison; a piece of the rock tosaut Was ground u
e. He in so deadly 4 way that its mere external a plication
, where was sufficient to cause death. uiot, notwithstandi~
d it by that he held himself constantly on the alert, having been
} a kind warned of his danger by a small burrowing animal called
stream the cucumel, was unable to avoid his fate; a few grains
sh that of the cankerous mixture were drop upon his breast
ove; 80 while hoe slept, and the strong mineral ate its way to the
ish fry very springs of his life All the wise men of the land
colony, were ©o"led to his assistance; but there was nothing for
utmost him 2 to die, is body was burned on a great pile
rs, that with songs of joy and dances, and the nation rejoiced.
et must While the people were gathered to this end, it wag
s of all thought advisable to consult on the feasibility of pro-
) proper curing seed and flesh to eat instead of the clay which
present had up to this time € sole food of the human
ne very family, And while they yet talked together, there ap.
o, find- peared to them, coming they knew not whence, one
fer sub- called Attajen, « which name implies man, or rational
ee | being.” And Attajen, understanding their desires, chose
me sa

- out certain of the elders among them,
the o
remain

the rest, to each his power and gift, and to the successors
t of > of each for ever, These were e fi
also the

rst medicine-men,
Many years having elapsed since the death of Ouiot,
1 as the there in the same Place one called Ouiam
to this reputed son of lacy and A uzar—people unknown, but
1e land. natives, it ig thought by Boscana, of “ some distant land,”
to say, f ’ O .

'S Quiamot is better known by

his great name Chinig.

166 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

chinich, which means Almighty. He first manifested
his powers to the people on a day when they had met in
congregation for some purpose or other; he appeared
dancing before them crowned with a kind of high
crown made of tall feathers stuck into a circlet of some
kind, girt with a kind of petticoat of feathers, and having
his flesh painted black and red. Thus decorated he was
called the éobet. Having danced some time, Chinigchinich
called out the medicine-men, or puplems as they were
called, among whom it would appear the chiefs are
always numbered, and confirmed their power; telling
them that he had come from the stars to instruct them
in dancing and all other things, and commanding that
in all their necessities they should array themselves in
the tobet, and so dance as he had danced, supplicating
him by his great name, that thus they might receive
of their petitions. He taught them how to worship
him, how to build vanquechs, or places of worship, and
how to direct their conduct in various affairs of life.
Then he prepared to die, and the people asked him if
they should bury him; but he warned them against
attempting such a thing: If ye buried me, he said, ye
would tread upon my grave, and for that my hand would
be heavy upon you; look to it, and to all your ways,
for lo, I go up where the high stars are, where mine eyes
shall see all the ways of men; and whosoever will not
keep my commandments nor observe the things I have
taught, behold disease shall plague all his body, and no
food shall come near his lips, the bear shall rend his
sf and the crooked tooth of the serpent shall sting

im.

The vanquech, or place of worship, seems to have been
an anreatel inclosure of stakes, within which, on a
hurdle, was placed the image of the god Chinigchinich.
This image was the skin of a coyote or that of a mount-
ain-cat stuffed with the feathers of certain birds, and
with various other things, so that it looked like a live
animal; a bow and some arrows were attached to it on the
outside, and other arrows were thrust down its throat so

ifested
met in
peared
’ high
' some
having
he was
hinich
y were
ofs are
telling
t them
g that
ves in
icating
receive
vorship
ip, and
of life.
him if
against
aid, ye
| would
» ways,
ne eyes
vill not
I have
and no
nd his
11 sting

ve been
, on &
shinich.
mount-
ds, and
» a live
t on the
hroat 80

ayer, and sometimes a kj
be furthe red—thue, desna the undertaking dedived
ting one

or Christian countries, Not onl

safe there whatever his crime, b

© ‘whose rank
“pparition in the
set there by the side of ag
him was sketched by

168 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

by eating or drinking or otherwise, would be reported. to
the god by the sprawling figure the enchanter had drawn
in the clay, and that in such a case the punishment of
Chinigchinich would be terrible. After all this was
over, a scar was made on the child’s right arm, and some-
times on the thick part of the leg also, by covering the
part, ‘‘ according to the figure required,” with a peculiar
herb dried and powdered, and setting fire toit. This
was a brand or seal required by Chinigchinich, and was
besides supposed to strengthen the nerves and give “a
better pulse for the management of the bow.” *

The Acagchemems, like many other Californian tribes,” .

regard the great buzzard with sentiments of veneration,
while they seem to have had connected with it several
rites and ideas peculiar to themselves. They called this
bird the panes, and once every year they had a festival of
the same name, in which the principal ceremony was the
killing of a buzzard without losing a drop of its blood.
It was next skinned, all possible care being taken to pre-
serve the feathers entire, as these were used in making
the feathered petticoat and diadem, already described as
part of the tebet. Last of all the body was buried within
the sacred iriclosure amid great apparent grief from the
old women, they mourning as over the loss of rela-
tive or friend, Tradition explained this: the panes
had indeed been once a woman, whom, wandering in the
mountain ways, the great god Chinigchinich had come
suddenly upon and changed into a bird. How this was
connected with the killing of her anew every year by
the people, and with certain extraordinary ideas held
relative to that killing is, however, by no means clear;
for it was believed that as often as the bird was killed it
was made alive again, and more, and faith to move
mountains—that the birds killed in one same yearly feast
in many separate villages were one and the same bird.
How these things were or why, none knew, it was enough

% Seo p. 118, of ti ‘s volume, for a custom among the Mexicans not with-
out analogies to this.
* Bee p. 194, of this volume,

AND THERE Was wap IN HEAVEN, 169
that they were
chinich, wh

orted to
| drawn
ment of
his was
d some-
ing, the

ration,
several
led this
tival of
was the
} blood.
to pre-
making

ibed as
ed know corrupti
within from his wounds sei

and h
7 uae Ne there ~ an owl that mt “ '
— PoKen-of god Ni
+ in the i
d come
his was
ear by
ws held
3 clear; i
r; : their
anette Prealiog to themse]
) | ore in H
ly feast mt
ie bird.
enough

ves

ith regard to the t
heaven and its re int of the
creedsof heterodox and evthodor en the other,

for example, part of the creation to pr

not with- * Roscana, in Robinson’ 249-30
tive, (2° Christian leaven, — vanish .
Ve, fermenty here too violen =

Orkin,
Hy to need pointing out, "* “M*OUGh thie nara,

170 GODS, SUPERNATUAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Niparaya.” The Cochimis and remaining natives of the
Californian peninsula seem to have held in the main
much the same ideas with regard to the gods and powers
above thein as the Pericues held, and the sorcerers of all
had the common blowings, leapings, fastings, and other
mummeries that make these professors ofthe sinister art
so much alike everywhere in our territory.”

The natives of Nevada have idens respecting a great
kind Spirit of some kind, as well as a myth concerning
an evil one; but they have no special class set apart as
medicine-men.” The Utah belief seems to be as nearly
as possible identical with that of Nevada.”

he Comanches acknowledge more or less vaguely a
Supreme Spirit, but seem to use the Sun and the Harth
as mediators with and, in some sort, as embodiments of
him. They have a recognized body of sorcerers called
puyacantes, and various religious ceremonies and chants;
for the most part of a simple kind, and directed to the Sun
as the great source of life, and to the Harth as the pro-
ducer and receptacle of all that sustains life. According
to the Abbé Domenech, every Comanche wears a little
figure of the sun, attached to his neck, or has a picture of
it painted on his shield; from the ears of each hang also
two crescents, which may possibly represent the moon.”

The Apaches recognize a supreme power in heaven
under the name Yaxtaxitaxitanne, the creator and master
of all things; but they render him no open service nor wor-
ship. Toany taciturn cunning man they are accustomed
to credit intercourse with a preternatural power of some
kind, and to look to him as a sort of oracle in various
emergencies. This is, in fact, their medicine-man, and

#7 Bee pp. 83-4, this volume.

% Vensyas, Nolivias dela C ‘al., tom. i, a ad yt Storia della
Cal., tom. i., PP. 135-141; Humboldt, Heoat. Pi *ol... tom, { 314,

ity Chronicle quoted in 9. F. Daily Ev 9 Post, of Oct, 12th,
1872; Browne's Lower Cal apt

30 De Smet's Letters, 4

3 Parker, in Se craft's Arch,, vol. v., p. 684; Whipple, Bubank, and
Turner's poigll oR 35-6, in Pac, R. R. Rept., vol, iii. Barreiro, Ojeada’ sobre

N, Mex., Filley's Life and Adven,, p. 82; Mar 's Army Life, 58,
64; Domertehy ‘Jour, d'un Mies. pp. 13, 131 P69. ” alt Li

A Yeh, Vv
Br ‘inton’ /

MONTEZUMA OF THE PUEBLOS,

171
of the in cases of illness he pretends to Perform cures by the
main aid of herbs and Ceremonies of various kinds,
pwers

The N &vajos, having the usual cl]
of all their i i

488 of go; rers, cal]
good deity Whaillahay, and their evil one Chinday;
other the principal use of their good seems to be to rotect
we art them from their evil one. In smoking they sometimes
puff their “smoke toward heaven with great for-
mality; tiis is said to bring rain: to the same end cer-
great tain long sound stones, thought to cast down by the
rning clouds in a ‘thunderstorm, are used with various cere-
nities monies,
early The sun, moon

» and stars are thought to be
connected with raj ; while the god Mon-
ely a tezuma of their Pueblo neighbors jg
them,*

unknown among

arth

othe All the Pueblo cities, though speaking different lan.

ants; guages hold substantialy the same faith They seem to

Sun assent,to the statement of the existence of a great and

, pro- good spirit whose name “is too sacred to be mentioned ;

rding but most Bay that Montezuma is his equa ; and some

little again, that the Sun is the same 48 or equal to Montezuma,

‘86 of There are, besides, ‘the lesser divinities of water,— Mon.

r also tezuma being considered in one aspect as the great rain-

5on.! god, and as such often ‘mentioned as being aided by or

aver Hs in connection with a Serpent. Over: and above

nator all t ese, the existence of a general class or body of evil
one spirits is taken for granted, ;

Hite Many places in N W Mexico claim to be the birthplace

aotte of the great leader, teacher and god Ontezuma, At

rious any rate he is traditionally Supposed to have appeared
and among the Pueblos before they had arrived at or built

' eir present towns, Some traditions would make him

4a della either the ancestor or the creator of the same people; but

h ae 1 Barreivo, Oheada sobre N. Mew, ap, PP. 2-3; Henry, in Schoolorayt's

ke, and . "S Orafullg oral World, Aug. 1872, p, 97; Whipple, Ewbank, and Typ.

la eobre ee ‘ Rept. P. 42, in Pao, R ,

pp. 58,

i; Ten Broe k, i
P. 91; Bristol, j Re

40

1. i t Special (2) ter eres
'y VOl, iy,, 1; A ; +» Special Com, i ;
Brinton'g Myths, p. 158; Dom-nech's Desh, vol. ii., p. 402, ; ue :

172 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

the most regard him as a kind of semi or wholly divine
priest, prophet, leader, and legislator. Under restric-
tions pointed out in a former note,* we may fairly regard
him as at once the Melchizedek, the Moses, and the
Messiah of these Pueblo desert wanderers from an Egypt
that history is ignorant of, and whose name even tradi-
tion whispers not. He taught his people to build cities
qvith tall houses, to construct estufas, or semi-sacred
sweat-houses, and to kindle and guard the sacred fire.

At Acoma, it is said by some, was established the first
Pueblo, and thence the people marched southward, form-
ing others. Acoma was one, and Pecos another. At
this last, Montezuma planted a tree upside down, and
said that, on his leaving them, a strange nation should
oppress them for many years, years also in which there
should be no rain, but that they were to persist in
watching the sacred fire until the tree fell, when he
would return, with a white race which should destroy
their enemies; and then rain should fall again and the
earth be fertile. It is said that this tree fell from its
abnormal position, as the American army entered Santa
Fé.

The watching of the fire, kept up in subterranean
estufas, under a covering of ashes generally, and in the
basin of a small altar, was no light task. The warriors
took the post by turns, some said, for two successive days
and nights, sans food, sans drink, sans sleep, sans every-
thing. Others affirm that this watching was kept up
till exhaustion and even death relieved the guard—the
last not to be wondered at, seeing the insufferable close-
ness of the place and the accumulation of carbonic acid.
The remains of the dead were, it was sometimes supposed,
carried off by a monstrous serpent. This holy fire was
believed to be the palladium of the city, and the watch-
ers by it could well dream of that day, when, coming
with the sun, Montezuma should descend by the column
of smoke whose roots they fed, and should fill the shabby

% Bee pp. 77-8, note 36, this volume,

by order of Montezuma
for life.” they a iate i i

more awful pillar of
mm. H

Ope dies hard,
& great never quite fade
away from among any people, No true-bo

Who dwelt up in the yellow sun,
And Sorrowing for man ’s des ir,
Slid by his trailing yellow hair

To earth, to rule with love and bring
The blessedness of Peace, 35

ious simple rites by which
tezuma j

® 18 recognized as well as
he Power—accordi

ing to some Ncounts—of “ the Great
they are to look

for rain. There are painted represen.
tations of the reat Snake 4
shapen red-haired man declared to stand for Montezuma,
Of this last there

us
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

mo re

— nee
a

eM lias

ae
a
22 Ma Une

| Photographic 23 WEST MAIN STREET
Sciences edna
Corporation

174 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Laguna, a rude effigy or idol, intended, apparently, to
represent only the head of the deity; it was made of
tanned skin in the form of a brimless hat or cylinder
open at the bottom. Half-way round, it was painted
red; the other half was green. The green side was
rudely marked to suggest a face: two triangles were cut
for eyes; there was no nose; a circular leather patch
served for a mouth, and two other patches in an
appropriate situation suggested ears. Crowning the
head was a small tuft of leather, said to be supplemented
by feathers on festal occasions, A sorry image one
would say, yet one looked upon by its exhibitors with
apparently the greatest veneration; they kneeling in a
most devoted manner, going through a form of prayer,
and sprinkling it with a white powder. One of the
worshipers said it was God and the brother of God;
and the people bring it out in dry seasons, and, with
dancing and other rites, invoke it for rain.

Christianity has now effaced the memory of most of
the rites of the Pueblo religion, but Dr Ten Broeck
noticed that many of the worshipers at the Christian
church in Laguna carried little baskets in their hands
containing images of domestic animals, or of beasts of the
chase, molded in mud or dough; it being the custom, as
it had been there from time immemorial, for those that
had been successful in the chase, or in accumulating
cattle, to bring such simulachres of their prosperity before
the altar of God,——probably, a modification produced by
the poverty of the people of a rite as old as the altar of
Abel, to wit, the offering of the firstlings and firstfruits to
that Deity whose blessing had given the increase.

It has been affirmed, without much foundation or pro-
bability of truth, that the Pueblos worshiped fire and
water.

% Greg's Com. Prairies, vol.i., pp. 271-8; Davis’ Ht Gringo, pp. 142, 304
Simpson's Overland Journ., pp. 21-3; Domenech's Deserta, vol. i., pp. 164-5, 418,
vol, ii., pp. 62-3, 401; DMolihausen, Tugebuch, pp. 170, 919, 284; Meline's Two
Thousand Miles on Horseback, pp. 202, 226; ‘iteton's Adven, in Mew., p. 198;
Ten Broeck, in Schooloraft's Arch, vol. iv., p. 73; Ward, in Ind, Af’. Rept,
1864, pp. 192-3; Emory's Reconnoissance, p, 30; Tylor's Prim, Cult,, vol. ii,
p. 984; Brinton's Myths, p. 190; Coronado, in Hakluyt's Voy., vol, dii., p.

MOJAVE DEITIES. 15
The Moquis know nothing of Montezuma; they believe
in a Great Father, living where the sun rises, and in a
great Mother, whose home is where the sun goes down.
This Father is the father of evil, war, pestilence, and
famine; but from the mother are all their joy, peace,
plenty, and health.”

The Mojaves tell of a certain Matevil, creator of hea-
ven and earth, who was wont in time past to remain
among them in a certain grand casa. This habitation
was, however, by some untoward event broken down;
the nations were destroyed; and Matevil departed east-
ward. Whence, in the latiey days, he will again return
to consolidate, prosper, and live with his people forever.
This Matevil, or Mathowelia, has a son called Mastamho,
who made the water and planted trees. There is also
an Evil Spirit Newathie.®

From a letter just received from Judge Roseborough,
I am enabled to close this chapter with some new and
valuable facts regarding the religious ideas of certain
tribes—not accurately specified—of the north-west por-
tion of Upper California, The learned judge has given
unusual attention tothe subject of which he writes, and his
opportunities for procuring information must have been
frequent during ten years of travel and residence in the
districts of the northern counties of California:—

Among the tribes in the neighborhood of Trinity river
is found a legend relating to a certain Wappeckquemow,
who was a giant, and apparently the father and leader of

879, Fremont gives an account of the birth of Montezuma: His mother was,
it is said, a woman of exquisite beauty, admired and sought after by all men,
they making her presente of corn and skins and all that they had; but the
fastidious beauty would accept nothing of them but their gifts, In process
of time a season of drought brought on a famine and much distress; then it
was that the rich Indy showed her charity to be as great in one direction as
it had been wanting in another. She opened her granaries and the gifts of
the lovers she had not loved went to releave the hungry she pitied. At last
with rain, fertility returned to the earth; and on the chaste Artemis of the
Pueblos its touch fell too, She bore a son to the thick summer shower and
that son was Montezuma,

1 Ten Broeck, in Schooleraft's Arch,, vol. iv., pp, 85-6.

% Whipple, Hwbank, and Turner's Rept., pp. 42-3, in Pac, R. R. Rept.,
vol. iil,; Dodt! in Ind. Aff. Repl, 1870, p. 190.

‘176 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

a pre-human race like himself. He was expelled from the
country that he inhabited—near the mouth of the Kla-
math—for disobeying or offending some great god, and a

curse was pronounced against him, so that not even his

descendants should ever return to that land. On the

expulsion of these Anakim, the ancestors of the people to

whom this legend belongs came down from the north-

west, a direction of migration, according to Judge Rose-

borough, uniformly adhered to in the legends of all the

tribes of north-west California. These new settlers, how-

ever, like their predecessors of the giant race, quarreled

with the great god and were abandoned by him to their
own devices, being given over into the hands of certain

evil powers or devils. Of these the first is Omahé, who,

possessing the shape of a grizzly bear, is invisible and
goes about everywhere bringing sickness and misfortune
on mankind. Next there is Makalay, a fiend with a horn
like a unicorn; he is swift as the wind and moves by
great leaps like a kangaroo. The sight of him is usually
death to mortals. There is, thirdly, a dreadful being
called Kalicknateck, who seems a faithful reproduction of
the great thunder-bird of the north: thus Kalicknateck
‘‘is a huge bird that sits on the mountain-peak, and broods
in silence over his thoughts until hungry; when he will
sweep down over the ocean, snatch up a large whale, and
carry it to his mountain-throne, for a single meal.”

Besides the before-mentioned powers of evil, these
Trinity people have legends connected with other person-
ages of the same nature, among whom are Wanuswegock,
Surgelp, Napousney, and Nequiteh.

When white miners first came to work on the Trinity
River, their advent caused, as may be imagined, much
unsatisfartory speculation among the aborigines; some
saying one thing of the whites and some another, At
last an old seer of the Hoopah Valley settled the question

by declaring that the new-comers were descendants of

that banished Wappeckquemow, from whose heads the
already-mentioned curse, forbidding their return, had
been by some means lifted.

down
at th
many
boats ;
made ¢
to the
to cert,
sels,
refuse
accumu
seen,
sea in t
rude h
off thei {
great w
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In dark)
men sufi
wind, th
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& marvel
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While the
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vast of h (
seen; but
know of
once live
how is,

Vo

THE KITCHEN-MIDDEN OF THE HOHGATES. 177

The coast people in northern California have
a story about a mysterious people called Hohgates,
to whom is ascribed an immense bed of mussel-
shells and bones of animals still existing.on the
table-land of Point St George, near Crescent City.
These Hohgates, seven in number, are said to have
come to the place in a boat, to have built themselves
‘houses above-ground, after the style of white men”
—all this about the time that the first natives came
down the coast from the north. These Hol.gates, living
at the point mentioned, killed many elk on land, and
many seals and sea-lions in fishing excursions from their
boats; using for the latter purpose a kind of harpoon
made of a knife attached toa stick, and the whole fastened
to the boat with along line. They also sailed frequently
to certain rocks, and loaded their little vessels with mus-
sels. By all this they secured plenty of food, and the
refuse of it, the bones and shells and so on, rapidly
accumulated into the great kjékken modding still to be
seen, One day, however, all the Hohgates being out at
sea in their boat, they struck a huge sea-lion with their
rude harpoon, and, unable or unwilling to cut or throw
off their line, were dragged with fearful speed toward a
great whirlpool, called Chareckquin, that lay far toward

the north-west. It is the place where souls go, where

in darkness and cold the spirits shiver for ever; living
men suffer even from its winds,—from the north-west

wind, the bleak and bitter Charreck-rawek. And just
as the boat reached the edge of this fearful place, behold,

a marvelous thing: the rope broke and the sea-monster

was swept down alone into the whirl of wind and water,

while the Hohgates were caught up into the air; swing-

ing round and round, their boat floatcd steadily up into the

vast of heaven, Nevermore on carth were the Hohgates

seen; but there are seven stars in heaven that all men

know of, and these stars are the seven Hohgates that

once lived where the great shell-bed near Crescent City

now is,

Vou, II, 12

CHAPTER VI.

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Gops anp Reuiarous Rrres or Curnvanva, Sonora, Dunaxco, AnD Sin-
ALoA—THE MExtcaAN RELIGION, RECEIVED WITH DIFFERENT DEGREES OF
CREDULITY BY DIFFERENT CLASSES OF THE PEOPLE--OPINIUNS OF DIFFER-
ENT Writers as To 118 NaTURE—MovyorHEIsM or NezanvaLcoyoTL—
PRESENT CONDITION OF THE Stupy or Mexican MyruHo.togy—Tezcatui-
PovuA — Prayers To Him IN TIME OF PESTILENCE, OF WAR, FOR THOSE
IN AUTHORITY—PRAYER USED BY AN ABSOLVING PRIEST--GENUINENESS OF
THE FOREGOING Prayers—CHARACTER AND Works oF SaHAGUN.
From the Pueblo cities let us now pass down into

Mexico, glancing first at the northern and north-western
neighbors of this greut people that ruled on the plateau
of Andhuac. The Chihuahuans worshiped a great god
called by them the ‘captain of heaven’ and recognized
a lesser divinity as abiding in and inspiring their priests
and medicine-men. They rendered homage to the sun;
and when any comet or other phenomenon appeared in
the heavens they offered sacrifice thereto; their sacrifice
being much after the Mexican fashion; fruits, herbs, and
such things as they had, together with blood drawn from
their bodies by the pricks of a thorn.!

In Sonora,—the great central heart of Mexico making
its beatings more and more clearly felt as we approach
it nearer,—the vague feelings of awe and reverence with
which the savage regards the unseen, unknown, and un-
knowable powers, begin at last to somewhat lose their

wn 1 ha Mew, Geog., Boletin, tom. iii., p. 22; Doc. Hist, Mea., serie iv., tom.
ud p. .

name i:
merable
sible fig
In one
their fli
Bure, '
Bods of
heaven |
under tl
not alwa
cooked |
for succe
a
of Guba
5 Ribas, .
lii., p. 48,

GODS OF SONORA AND DURANGO.

179

vagueness and to crystallize into the recognition of a
power to be represented and symbolized by a god made
with hands. The offerings thereto begin also, more and
more, to lose their primitive simple shape, and the blood,
without which is no remission of sins, stains the rude
altar that a more Arcadian race had only heaped with
flowers and fruit. The natives of Sonora bring, says Las
Casas, ‘‘many deer, wolves, hares, and birds before a
large idol, with music of many flutes and other instru-
ments of theirs; then cutting open the animals through
the middle, they take out their hearts and hang them
round the neck of the image, wetting it with the flowing
blood. It is certain that the only offering made in all
this province of Sonc ra was the hearts of brutes.”? All
this they did more especially in two great festivals they
had, the one at seed-time, theother at harvest; and we have
reason to rejoice that the thing was no worse, reason to
be glad that the hearts of brave men and fair women, and
soft children not knowing their right hand from their left,
were not called for, as in the land of the eagle and cactus
banner, to feed that devil’s Minotaur, superstition.

The people of Durango called the principal power in
which they believed Meyuncaize, that is to say, Maker
of All Things; they had another god, Cachiripa, whose
name is all we know of him. They had besides innu-
merable private idols, penates of all possible and impos-
sible figures; some being stone, shaped by nature only.
In one village they worshiped o great flint knife that
their flint implements of every kind might be good and
sure. They had gods of storm and gods of sunshine,
gods of good and gods of evil, gods of everything in
heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the waters
under the earth. Their idols received bloody sacrifices,
not always of beasts; a bowl containing beans and the
cooked human flesh of an enemy was offered to them
for success in war."

* Las Casas, Hist. A ica, MS., tom. iii,, cap. 168; Smith's Relation
of Cabeza de Vaca Pa 7.
a Ribas, Hist, de los Triumphoe, pp. 473-6; Doc. Hist, Mew., serie iv., tom.
+» Pp. 49,

180 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP

Much of the preceding paragraph belongs also to Sin-
aloa or cannot’be exactly located more in the one province
than in the other. The Sinaloas are said to have
venerated above all the other gods one called Cocohuame,
which is, being interpreted, Death. They worshiped also
a certain Ouraba,* which is Valor, offering him bows,
arrows, and all kinds of instruments of war. To Sehua-
toba, that is to say Pleasure, they sacrificed feathers,
raiment, beads of glass, and women’s ornaments. Bam-
usehua was the god of water. In some parts, it is said,
there was recognized a divine element in common herbs
and birds. One deity—or devil, as Ribas calls him with
the exquisite courtesy that distinguishes the theosophic
historian—was the especial patron of a class of wizards
closely resembling the shamans and medicine-men of
the north. No one seemed to know exactly the powers
of this deity, but everyone admitted their extent by re-
cognizing with a respectful awe their effects; effects
brought about through the agency of the wizards,
by the use of bags, rattles, magic stones, blowings, suck-
ings, and all that routine of sorcery with which we are
already familiar. This deity was called Grandfather or
‘Ancestor.°

One Sinaloa nation, the Tahus, in the neighborhood
of Culiacan, reared great. serpents for which they had
a good deal of veneration. They propitiated their gods
with offerings of precious stones and rich stuffs, but they
did not sacrifice men. With an altogether characteris-
tic insinuation, the Abbé Domenech says, that though
highly immoral in the main, they so highly respected
women who devoted themselves to a life of celibacy,

oe Apparentiy the same as that-Vairubi spoken of on p. 83 of this volume.
5 Ribas, Hist, de los Triumphos, pp. 16, 18, 40, ‘A uno de sus dioses llam-
aban Ouraba, que quiere decir fortaleza, Era como Marte, dios de ln guerra.
‘Ofracianle arcos, flechas y todo género de armas parn el feliz éxito do sus
batallas, A otro lamaban Sehuatoba, que quiere decir, deleite, & quien
ofrecian plumas, mantas, cuentecillas de vidrio y ndornos mugeriles, A! dios
do las aguas Mamnaban Bamusehua. El mas venerado de todos era Coco-
‘huame, que significa muerte.’ Alegre, Hist. Comp, de Jesus, tom. ii., p. 45.
‘They worship for their gods such things as they haue in their houses, a8
‘famely, hearbes, and birdes, and sing more vnto them in their language.
Coronado, in Hakluyt'’s Voy., vol. iii., p. 363,

nation
of his
that d
heard
is giv
folly t
is har
poring
sevente
religior
and ch;
of his
element
half-ciy
Athenig
quence,
nescienc
Weh
schools |

8 Ts og)
Vivre dang ]
tous nus, 1’,

and Ia ds
q on avait.

abord et ¢

No pouvnient

Elles n'ctaies

clles ge mat
pp. 150-1,

spect for all

estivals in t]

vol, i, p. 17

7 This volt

THE MEXICAN RELIGION AND ITS HISTORIANS, 181

that they held great festivals in their honor —
leaving the reader to suppose that the Tahus had a class
of female religious who devoted themselves to a life of
chastity and were respected for that reason; the truth is
found to be, on referring to the author Castafieda—from
whom apparently the abbé has taken this half truth
and whole falsehood: —that these estimable celibate women
were the public prostitutes of the nation.*

The Mexican religion, as transmitted to us, is a con-
fused and clashing chaos of fragments. If ever the great
nation of Andhuac had its Hesiod or its Homer, no ray
of his light has reached the stumbling feet of research in
that direction; no echo of his harmony has been ever
heard by any ear less dull than that of a Zumirraga. It
is given to few men to rise above their age, and it is
folly to expect grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles; yet it
is hard to suppress wholly some feelings of regret, in
poring upon those ponderous tomes of sixteenth and
seventeenth century history that touch upon Mexican
religion; one pities far less the inevitable superstition
and childish ignorance of the barbarian than the senility
of his Christian historian and critic—there was some
element of hope and evidence of attainment in what the
half-civilized barbarian knew; but from what heights of
Athenian, Roman, and Alexandrian philosophy and elo-
quence, had civilization fallen into the dull and arrogant
nescience of the chronicles of the clergy of Spain.

We have already noticed’ the existence of at least two
schools of religious philosophy in Mexico, two average

6 *Tls célébraient de grandes fétes en l’'honneur des femmes qui voulaient
vivre dans le cclibat, Les caciques d’un canton se r‘unissaient et dansaient
tous nus, l’un aprés lautre, avec ln femme qui avait pris cette dctermination.
Quand la danse ctait terminde, ils la conduisaient dans une petite maison
gan avait d’corée a cet effet, et ils jouissaient de sa personne, les caciques

abord et ensuite tous ceux qui le voulaient, A dater de ce moment, elles
ne pouvaient rien refuser & quiconque leur offrait le prix fixé pour cela,
Elles n'(taient jamais dispensées de cette obligation, méme quand plus tard
elles se marinient.’ Castazieda, in Ternaua-Compans, Voy., serie i., tom, ix.,
pp. 150-1. ‘Although these men were very immoral, yet such was their re-
spect for all women who led a life of celibacy, that they celebrated grand
ene in ad honour,’ And there he makes an end. Domencch's Deserts,
Yol. 1, p. 170,

7 This volume, pp. 65-6,

182 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

levels of thought, the one that of the vulgar and credu-
lous, the other that of the more enlightened and _ reflec-
tive. It has resulted from this that different writers
differ somewhat in their opinions with regard to the pre-
cise nature and essence of that religion, some saying one
thing and some another. I cannot show this more short-
ly and—what is much more important in a subject like
this—more exactly, than by quoting a number of these
Opinions:

“Turning from the simple faiths of savage tribes of
America, to the complex religion of the half-civilized
Mexican nation, we find what we might naturally expect,
a cumbrous polytheism complicated by mixture of several
national pantheons, and beside and beyond this, certain
appearances of a doctrine of divine supremacy. But
these doctrines seem to have been spoken of more defi-
nitely than the evidence warrants. A remarkable native
development of Mexican theism must be admitted, in
so far as we may receive the native historian Ixtlilxo-
chitl’s account of the worship paid by Nezahualcoyotl,
the poet-king of Tezcuco, to the invisible supreme Tloque-
Nahuaque, he who has all in him, the cause of causes,
in whose star-roofed pyramid stood an idol, and who
there received no bloody sacrifice, but only flowers and
incense. Yet it would have been more satisfactory, were
the stories told by this Aztec panegyrist of his royal an-
cestors confirmed by other records. Traces of divine
supremacy in Mexican religion are especially associated
with Tezcatlipoca, ‘Shining Mirror,’ a deity who seems
in his original nature the Sun-god, and thence by ex-
sa to have become the soul of the world, creator of

eaven and earth, lord of all things, Supreme Deity.
Such conceptions may, in more or less measure, have
arisen in native thought, but it should be pointed out
that the remarkable Aztec religious formulas collected
by Sahagun, in which the deity Tezcatlipoca is so promi-
nent a figure, show traces of Christian admixture in their
material, as well os of Christian influence in their style.
In distinct and absolute personality, the divine Sun in

concep

theism
monot
concord
ples of
Anothe
absence
In the ]
Teotl w
on the q
occurrin;
taken in
theistic x

tT would
Spanish cap
called J upitd
how unfetish
Bod b the Vv
9 Tylor’s

COMPLEXITY OF AZTEC THEOLOGY. 183

Aztec theology was Tonatiuh* whose huge pyramid-
mound stands on the plain of Teotihuacan, a witness of
his worship for future ages. Beyond this the religion of
Mexico, in its complex system, or congeries of great gods,
such as results from the mixture and alliance of the
deities of several nations, shows the solar element rooted
deeply and widely in other personages of its divine my-
thology, and attributes especially to the sun the title of
Teotl, God.”°

“Tt is remarkable,” says Professor J. G. Miiller, “ that
the well-instructed Acosta should have known nothing
about the adoration of a highest invisible God, under
the name of Teotl. And yet this adoration has been re-
ported in the most certain manner by others, and made
evident from more exact statements regarding the nature
of this deity. He has been surnamed Ipalnemoan, that
is, He through whom we live, and Tloquenahuaque, that
is, He who is all things through himself. He has been
looked upon as the originator and essence of all things,
and as especially throned in the high cloud-surrounded
mountains. Rightly does Wuttke contend against any
conception of this deity as a monotheistic one, the poly-
theism of the people being considered—for polytheism and
monotheism will not be yoked together; even if a logical
concordance were found, the inner spirits of the princi-
ples of the two would still be opposed to each other.
Another argument stands also clearly out, in the total
absence of any prayers, offerings, feasts, or temples to or
in the honor of this god. From this it is evident that
Teotl was not a god of the common people. Yet this,
on the other hand, cannot justify us,—the so-frequently-
occurring statements of well-informed authorities being
taken into account,—in denying in toto all traces ofa pan-
theistic monotheism, as this latter may easily spring up

8I would call attention to the fact that Alvarado, the ruddy handsome
Spanish captain, was called Tonatiuh by the Mexicans, just as Barnabas was
called Jupiter, and Paul, Mercurius, by the people of Lystra--going to show
how unfetish and anthropomorphic were the ideas connected with the sun-
god - the Mexicans.

9 Tylor's Prim. Cull., vol. ii., p. 311,

184 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

among cultivated polytheists as a logical result and out-
come of their natural religion. Nezahualcoyotl, the en-
lightened king of Tezcuco, adored as the cause of causes,
a god without an image. The chief of the Totonac
aborigines of Cempoallan had, if we may credit the
speech put in his mouth by Las Casas and Herrera, an
idea of a highest god and creator. This abstract
idea has also here, as in other parts of America, inter-
twined itself with the conception of a sun-god. Hence
the Mexicans named the sun-god pre-eminently Teotl;
and that enlightened king of Tezcuco, who built a temple
of nine stories—symbolizing the nine heavens—in honor
of the stars, called the sun-god his father.” ”

‘‘'To the most ancient gods,” says Klemm, “belonged
the divinities of nature, as well as a highest being called
Teotl, God. He was perfect, independent, and invisible,
and consequently not represented by any image. His
qualities were represented by expressions like these:
He through whom we live, He who is all in himself.
This god coincides very nearly with the Master of
Life of the North Americans. In opposition to him
is the evil spirit, the enemy of mankind, who often
appears to and terrifies them. He is called Tlacate-
cololotl, that is to say, Rational Owl, and may possi-
bly, like the Lame-foot of the Peruvians, be a sur-
vival from the times when the old hunter-nations in-
habited the forests and mountains. Next to Teotl

10 Miller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, pp. 47° 4. The so-often discussed
resemblance in form and signification betwe .. the two Mexican words feotl
and calli (see Molina, Vocabulario) and the two Greek words theos and
kalia, is completely enough noticed by Miiller, ‘Die Mexikanischen Vélker
haben einen Appellativnamen fir Gott, 'Teotl, welcher, da die Buchstaben
tl blosse aztekische Endung sind, merkwiirdiger Weise mit dem Indoger-
manischen theos, Deus, Deva, Dew, zusammenstimmt. Dieses Wort wird
cur Bildung mancher Gdtternamen oder Kultusgegenstiinde gebraucht.
Hieher gehiren die Gétternamen Tcotlacozanyui, Teocipactli, Teotetl,
pee ad Tlozolteotl. Der Tempel heisst Teocalli (vgl. Kalia, Hiitte,
Kalias Capelle) oder wortlich Haus Gottes—-das gittliche Buch, ‘Teoamoxtli,
Priester Teopuixqui, oder auch Teoteuktli, eine Prozession Teonenemi,
Géttermarsch. Dazu kommen noch manche Namen von Stiidten, die als
Kultussitze ausgezeichnet waren, wie das uns schon friher bekannt gewordene
Teotihuacan. Im Plural wurden die Gétter ‘leules genannt und eben s0,
wie uns Bernal Diaz so oft erzihit, die Gefihrten des Cortes welche das ge-
meine Volk als Gétter bezeichnen wollte.’ Jd., p. 472.

NU Klemm

TLOQUE-NAHUAQUE. 185

was Tezcatlipoca, that is to say, Shining Mirror; he
was the god of providence, the soul of the world,
and the creator of heaven and earth. Teotl was
not represented by any image, and was probably not
worshiped with offerings nor in any special temples;
Tezcatlipoca was, however, so represented, and that as
a youth, because time could have no power over his
beauty and his splendor. He rewarded the righteous,
and punished the ungodly with sickness and misfortune.
He created the world, and mankind, and the sun, and
the water, and he was himself in a certain degree tlic
overseer thereof.”

The Abbé Brasseur believes in the knowledge by the
Mexicans and certain neighboring or related nations. of
a Supreme God; but he thinks also that the names of
great priests and legislators have often been used for or
confounded wii tlie one Name above every name. He
says: “In the traditions that have reached us _ the
name oi the legislator is often confused with that
of the divinity; and behind the symbolic veil that covers
primitive history, he who civilized and brought to light
in the Americans a new life, is designedly identified with
the Father of the universal creation. ‘The writers who
treat of the history of the ancient American nations avow
that, at the time of the landing of the Spaniards on the
soil of the western continent, there was not one that did
not recognize the existence of a supreme deity and arbi-
ter of the universe. In that confusion of religious ideas,
which is the inevitable result of ignorance and supersti-
tion, the notion of a unique immaterial being, of an in-
visible power, had survived the shipwreck of pure primi-
tive creeds. Under the name Tloque-Nahuaque, the
Mexicans adored Him who is the first cause of all things,
who preserves and sustains all by his providence; call-
ing him again, for the same reason, Ipalnemoaloni, He
in whom and by whom we are and live. This god was
the same as that Kunab-Ku, the Alone Holy, who was
adored in Yucatan; the same again as that ‘Jurakan,

MN Klemm, Cultur-Geschichle, tom. v., pp. 114-5.

186 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

the Voice that Cries, the Heart of Heaven, found with the
Guatemalan n:tions of Central ‘America; and the same
lastly as that Teotl, God, whom we find named in the
Tzendal and Mexican books. This “God of all purity,”
as he was styled in a Mexican prayer, was, however, too
elevated for the thoughts of the vulgar. His existence
was recognized, and sages invoked him; but he had
neither temples nor altars,—perhaps because no one
knew how he should be represented,—and it was only
in the last times of ‘the Aztec monarchy that Nezahual-
coyotl, king of Tezcuco, dedicated to him a teocalli of nine
terraces, without statues, under the title of the unknown
god,” 2

Mr Gallatin says of the Mexicans: ‘“ Their mythology,
as far as we know it, presents a great number of uncon-
nected gods, without apparent system or unity of design.
It exhibits no evidence of metaphysical research or ima-
ginative powers. Viewed only as a development of the
intellectual faculties of man, it is, in every respect, vastly
inferior to the religious systems of Egypt, India, Greece,
or Scandinavia. If imported, it must have been from
some barbarous country, and brought directly from such
country to Mexico, since no traces of a similar worship
are found in the more northern parts of America,” ”

“The Aztecs,” writes Prescott, ‘recognized the exist-
ence of a Supreme Creator and Lord of the Universe.
But the idea of unity—of a being, with whom volition
is action, who has no need of inferior ministers to
execute his purposes—was too simple, or too vast, for
their understandings; and they sought relief as usual,
in a plurality of deities, who presided over the elements,
the changes of the seasons, and the various occupations
of man. Of these, there were thirteen principal deities,
and more than two hundred inferior; to each of whom
some special day, or appropriate festival, was conse-
crated.”

12 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist, des Nat. Civ., tom. i., RP: 45-6,
13 (Gallatin, in Amer, Antiq. Soc, Transact., vol. i., p. 852,
14 Prescott's Cong. af Mew., vol. i., p. 57,

hua
of |
and
mol
tilt
mur
fert
god
eter
sup!
wer
city
pray
lav «
won
ado
the

over

S|

PRIMITIVE WORSHIP. 187

According to Mr Squier: ‘“ The original deities of the
Mexican pantheon are few in number. Thus when the
Mexicans engaged in a war, in defense of the liberty or
sovereignty of their country, they invoked the War God,
under his aspect and name Huitzlipochtli. When sud-
denly attacked by enemies, they called upon the same
god, under his aspect and name of Paynalton, which im-
plied God of Emergencies, etc. In fact, as already else-
where observed, all the divinities of the Mexican, as of
every other mythology, resolve themselves into the pri-
meval God and Goddess.” ¥

“The population of Central America,” says the Vi-
comte de Bussierre, ‘although they had preserved the
vague notion of a superior eternal God and creator,
known by the name Teotl, had an Olympus os numerous
as that of the Greeks and the Romans, It would appear,—
the most ancient, though, unfortunately, also the most
obscure legends being followed,—that during the civilized
period which preceded the successive invasions of the
barbarous hordes of the north, the inhabitants of And-
huac joined to the idea of a supreme being the worship
of the sun and the moon, offering them flowers, [ruits,
and the first fruits of their fields. The most ancient
monuments of the country, such as the pyramids of Teo-
tihuacan, were incontestably consecrated to these lumi-
niries, Let us now trace some of the most striking
features of these people. Among the number of their
gods, is found one represented under the figure of a man
eternally young, and considered as the symbol of the
supreme and mysterious God. Two other gods there
were, watching over mortals from the height of 0 celestial
city, and charged with the accomplishment of their
prayers, Air, earth, fire, and water had their particu.
lav divinities, The woman of the serpent, the prolific
woman, she who never gave birth but to twins, was
adored as the mother of the human race. The sun and
the moon had their altars, Various divinities presided
over the phenomena of nature, over the day, the night,

8 Squier's Serpent Symbol, p. 47,

183 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

the mist, the thunder, the harvest, the mountains, and
soon. Souls, the place of the dead, warriors, hunters,
merchants, fishing, love, drunkenness, medicine, flowers,
and many other things had their special gods. A multi-
tude of heroes and of illustrious kings, whose apotheosis
had been decreed, took their place in this vast pantheon,
where were besides seated two hundred and sixty divin-
ities of inferior rank, to each of whom nevertheless one
of the days of the year was consecrated. Lastly, every
city, every family, every individual, had its or his celes-
tial protector, to whom worship was rendered. The
number of the temples corresponded to that of the gods;
these temples were found everywhere, in the cities, in
the fields, in the woods, along the roads, and all of them
had priests charged with their service. This complicated
mythology was common to all the nations of Andhuac,
even to those that the empire had been unable to sub-
jugate and with which it was at war; but each country
had its favorite god, such god being to it, what Huitzilo-
pochtli, the god of war, was to the Aztecs,” ”°

The Mexican religion, as summed up by Mr Brantz May-
er,” “was a compound of spiritualism and gross idolatry ;
for the Aztecs believed in a Supreme Deity, whom they
called ‘Teotl, God; or Ipalnemoani, He by whom we
live; or 'Tloque Nahuaque, He who has all in himself;
while their evil spirit bore the name of Tlaleatcololotl,
the Rational Owl. These spiritual beings are sur-
rounded by a number of lesser divinities, who were prob-
ably the ministerial agents of Teotl. These were
Huitzilopotchtli, the god of war, and Teoyaomiqui,
his spouse, whose duty it was to conduct the souls of
warriors who perished in defense of their homes and
and religion to the ‘house of the sun,’ the Aztec heaven.
Huitzilopotchtli, or Mextli, the god of war, was the
special protector of the Aztecs; and devoted as they
were to war, this deity was always invoked before battle,

16 Russterre, L' Empire Mesteain, pp, 131-3
17 Brants Mayer, 4 Schoolcrajt’s Arch, vol, vi., p. 585; see also, Brants
May:r's Mexivo as it was, p, 110,

Tloq
hims
Supr
inven
more

18 Ca
Ant, del

nd
rs,
Ts,
lti-
818
on,
‘in-
one
ery
les-
The
ods;
3, in
hem
ated
UAC,
sub-
ntry
zilo-

ay-
try;
they
we
self;
lotl,
sur-
prob-

MEXICAN RELIGION, GREEK AND ROMAN. 189

and recompensed after it by the offering of numerous
captives taken in conflict.”

‘The religion of the Mexicans,” writes Sefior Carbajal
Espinosa,” plagiarizing as literally as possible from Clavi-
gero, ‘‘ was a tissue of errors and of cruel and superstitious
rites. Similar infirmities of the human mind are in-
separable from a religious system originating in caprice
and fear, .as we see even in the most cultured nations
of antiquity. If the religion of the Mexicans be com-
pared with that of the Greeks and Romans, it will be
found that the latter is the more superstitious and ridic-
ulous and the former the more barbarous and sangui-
nary. These celebrated nations of ancient Europe
multiplied excessively their gods because of the mean
idea that they had of their power; restricting their rule
within narrow limits, attributing to them the most atro-
cious crimes, and solemnizing their worship with such
execrable impurities as were so justly condemned by the
fathers of Christianity. The gods of the Mexicans were
less imperfect, and their worship although superstitious
contained nothing repugnant to decency. ‘They had
some idea, although imperfect, of a Supreme Being, ab-
solute, independent, believing that they owed him tri-
bute, adoration, and fear. They had no figure whereby
to represent him, believing him to be invisible, neither
did they give him any other name, save the generic one,
God, which is in the Mexican tongue teotl, resembling
even more in sense than in pronunciation the theos of
the Greeks; they used, however, epithets, in the highest
degree expressive, to signify the grandeur and the power
which they believed him endowed with, calling him
Ipalnemoani, that is to say, He by whom we live, and
Tloque-Nahuaque, which means, He that is all things in
himself, But the knowledge and the worship of this
Supreme Essence were obscured by the multitude of gods
invented by superstition. The people believed further-
more in an evil spirit, inimical to mankind, calling

18 Carbajal Espinosa, Hist, de Mexico, tom. i., pp. 463-9; Clavigero, Storia
Ant, del jag tay il, pp. 3-4, ' : rs

190 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

him Tlacatecololotl, or Rational Owl, and saying that
oftentimes he revealed himself to men, to hurt or to
terrify them.”

‘The Mexicans and the Tezcucans,” following Sejior
Pimentel, ‘‘ recognized the existence of a Supreme Being,
of a First Cause, and gave him that generic title Teotl,
God, the analogy of which with the Theos of the Greeks,
has been already noted by various authors. The idea of
God is one of those that appear radical to our very exist-
ence.. ..With the Mexicans and Tezcucans this idea
was darkened by the adoration of a thousand gods, in-
voked in all emergencies; of these gods there were thir-
teen principal, the most notable being the god of prov-
idence, that of war, and that of the wind and waters,
The god of providence had his seat in the sky, and had
in his care all human affairs, The god of the waters
was considered as the fertilizer of earth, and his dwelling
was in the highest of the mountains where he arranged
the clouds. The god of war was the principal protector
of the Mexicans, their guide in their wanderings from
the mysterious country of Aztlan, the god to whose
favor they owed those great victories that elevated them
from the lowly estate of lake-fishermen up to the lord-
ship ot Andhuac. The god of the wind had an aspect
more benign....The Mexicans also worshiped the sun
and the moon, and even, it would appear, certain ani-
mals considered as sacred. ‘There figured also in the
Aztec mythology an evil genius called the Owl-man,”
since in some manner the good and the bad, mixed up
here on earth, have to be explained. So the Persians
had their Oromasdes and Arimanes, the first the genius
of good, and the second of evil, and so, later, Maniche-
ism presents us with analogous explanations,” ”

Solis, writing of Mexico and the Mexicans says:
“There was hardly a street without its tutelary god;
neither wasthere any calamity of nature without its altar,
to which they had recourse for remedy. They imagined

19 Hombre Buho.
% Pimentel, Mem, sobre la Rasa Indigena, pp. 11-13.

prosperi
name of
ho is th
Tonacatl

that
or to

Jefior
eing,
Teotl,
‘eeks,
lea of
»xist-
idea
s, in-
thir-
prov-
aters,
| had
aters
ling
nged
ector
from
yhose
them
lord-
spect
» sun
ani-
. the
an,”
1 up
sians
*nius

THE N. AMELESS GOD.

he po
..B

Creation of

hings was,
, & god without name; they had no

ge with which to express him, only

tood that they knew him, Pointing
ven, and giving to him after their
‘ineffable, with that sort of relig-
hich the Athenians venerated the

of the Codex Telleriano-
Mexicans by the

Bays: “ God, '

uaq, Tlalticpaque, Teo

Remensis Calls

tlalale

; and him
ll.

time, or demons,” ® .

e have already seen from Herrera that « the Mexi.
cans confessed to a ord, and maker of
all things, and the sai Principal that they
venerated, looking and calling him

According t
ms to be the only equiva
Codices,’

nels, in Kingsborough's ew,

portunity of cautioning the reader
he above codex 8 well

48 against his
Tavole dei Codive Mewicano ‘Overy error that
have crept into these two,

ae a a ae ec CRI Re

192 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Creator of heaven and earth.” ™ In contra-distinction
to this it may be well to consider the following extract
from the same author: ‘‘ Such was the blindness of the
Mexicans, even to the natural light, that they did not
think like men of good judgment that all created things
were the work and effect of some immense and infinite
cause, the which only the First Cause and true God is,
....And in Mexico ‘alone (according to the common
opinion) they had and adored two thousand gods, of whom
the principal were Vizilipuztli and Tezcatlipucatl, who
as supreme were set up in the height of the great temple,
over two altars... .'Tezcatlipucatl was the god of provi-
dence, and Vizilipuztli the god of war.” *

Speaking of Mexican temples” and gods, Oviedo says:
“But Montezuma had the chief [temple], together with
three other prayer-houses, in which he sacrificed in
honor of four gods, or idols, that he had; of these they
had one for god of war, as the Gentiles had Mars; to
another they gave honor and sacrifice as god of the
waters, even as the ancients gave to Neptune; another they
adored for god of the wind, as the lost heathen adored
AXolus; and another still they revered as their sovereign
god, and this was the sun....They had further other
gods; making one of them god of the maize-fields, attri-
buting to him the power of guarding and multiplying
the same, as the fable-writing poets and ancients of an-
tiquity did to Ceres. They had gods for everything,
giving attributes to each according to their surmises, in-
vesting them with that godhead which they had not, and
with which it was not right to invest any save only the
true God,””

» Speaking in general terms of probably a large part of

1 See this vol, p. 57, note 13. On pages 55 and 56, and in the note per-

taining thereto, will also be found inany references bearing on tho matter
under present discussion,

2) Jlervera, Hist, Gen,, dec, ii., lib. vii., cap. xviii,, p. 253,

20 Qiles, Oviedo onlls them, (spelled cues by most writers) the following ex-
planation being given in glossary of Voces Americanas Empleadas por Oviedo,
appended to the fourth volume of the Hist, Gen.: ‘Qi: templo, casn de oraci-
on, Esta you ora muy general en casi toda América, y muy principalmente
on las comarens de Yueatan y Mechuacan,’

87 Oviedo, Hist, Gen., tom. ili., p. 503.

some
same
Worsh
nanda
Courag

all,whom ¢
em of ©
V

ction
tract
f the
1 not
1ings
finite
dis,
ymon
yhom
who
nple,
rovi-

SRYS:
with
d in
they
8; to
’ the
they
lored
reign
other
attri-
lying
f an-
hing,
s, in-
, and
y the

art of

te per-
matter

ving @X-
Oviedo,
@ oracle
mente

198

These idolaters did
palnemoaloni, that
his nature is that

believed in the

the ideas connected

yet in
8e....The Mexicaineg almost in the
r [as the Peruvians

er the supreame God

loni, que quiere decir, Sejior por quien 8€ vive, Y ai sar en
Torquemada, Monarg, Ind., tom, ii., p. 30
p. 183, ot, be it remarked that Acosta q
f a Supreme od; he only q
id deit ,

t:] 1,
ed V. racocha, , , , im th Worship, ag the che
“y did honor in beholding th The ike Wee see amongest
€xico,’’
Von, II, 13

194 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

greatest adoration to an Idol called Vitzilipuztli, the
which in all this region they called the most puissant
and Lord of all things: for this cause.the Mexicaines
built him a Temple, the greatest, the fairest, the highest,
and the most sumptuous of all others... .But heere
the Mexicaines Idolatrie hath bin more pernicious and
hurtfull than that of the Inguas, as wee shall see plainer
heereafter, for that the greatest part of their adoration
and idolatrie, was imployed to Idols, and not to naturall
things, although they did attribute. naturall effects to
these Idolls, as raine, multiplication of cattell, warre, and
generation, even as the Greekes and Latins have forged
Idolls of Phoebus, Mercurie, Jupiter, Minerva, and of
Mars. _ To conclude, who so shall neerely looke into it,
shall finde this manner which the Divell hath vsed to
deceive the Indians, to be the same wherewith hee hath
deceived the Greekes and Romans, and other ancient
Gentiles, giving them to vnderstand that these notable
creatures, the Sunne, Moone, Starres, and Elements, had
power and authoritie to doe good or harme to men.” ”
Mendieta says: “It is to be noted for a general rule
that, though these people, in all the continent of these
Indias, from the farthest parts of New Spain to the parts
of Florida, and farther still to the kingdoms of Peru,
had, as has been said, an infinity of idols that they
reverenced as gods, nevertheless, above all, they still
held the sun as chiefest and most powerful. And they
dedicated to the sun the greatest, richest, and most
sumptuous of their temples. This should be the power
the Mexicans called Ipalnemohuani, that is to say, ‘by
whom all live,’ and Moyucuyatzin ayac oquiyocux ayac
oquipic, that is to say, ‘he that no one created or formed,
but who, on the contrary, made all things by his own
wer and will.’....So many are the fictions and fa-
bles that the Indians invented about their gods, and s0
differently are these related in the different towns, that
neither can they agree among themselves in recounting

% Acosta, Hist, Nat, Ind., pp. 994, 987-8,

ut it is a
am AC fn
cessible j
title to me
ing and g
Gk? nauag

Nntando '

, the
ssant
aines
thest,
heere
s and
ljainer
‘ation
turall
‘ts to
», and
orged
nd of
ito it,

r still
| they

most
power
y, ‘by

aye
te
s own
id fa-
nd 80
, that
inting

amous men t¢
feats, or invented some
benefit of th

8 also preserved
the following terms;
the hea

Nahuaque

r gods ”),—you that

que is not on)
lines above in
authors
‘0 be

i ante

ieta, His les,, P- 88, 91, 107
n retation of Ae title Tlo
er 3)

" que Nahua
Vv

ixreoonci-

» ‘He ‘pon wh things, presery.
gee them, = i“ 80 Teg mean God, or Lord. 7

ue, Ca ulen esta e Ser de todag CORA, Conseruando! Bug.

tentando, ty dizgue de AKO geilor diog,' e

196 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

have all power over men forsake us not in danger. We
invoke you, as well also as the sun Nauholin, and the
moon, spouse of that brilliant luminary, the stars of
heaven also, and the wind of the night and of the day.”*
According to the somewhat vague and incomplete ac-
count of Fray Toribio de Benavente, or Motolinia,—the
latter his adopted name and that by which he is best
known,—another of the original and early authorities in
matter concerning the gentile Mexicans: ‘ 'Tezcatlipoca
was the god or demon that they held for greatest and
to whom most dignity was attributed...They had
idols of stone, and of wood, and of baked clay; they also
made them of dough and of seeds kneaded into the
dough ...Some of them were shaped like men,...some
were like women; ... some were like wild beasts, as lions,
tigers, dogs, deer, and such other animals as frequented
the mountains and plains;...some like snakes of many
fashions, large and coiling...Of the owl and other
night-birds, and of others as the kite, and of every large
bird, or beautiful, or fierce, or preciously feathered,—
they had an idol. But the principal of all was the sun.
Likewise had they idols of the moon and stars, and of
the great fishes, and of the water-lizards, and of toads and
frogs, and of other fishes; and these they said were the
gods of the fishes...They had for gods fire, water, and
earth; and of all these they had painted figures... Of
many other things they had figures and idols, carved or
painted, even of butterflies, fleas, and locusts.” *
Nezahualcoyotl, king of Tezcuco, was he who—accord-
ing to the no doubt somewhat partial account of his de-
scendant Ixtlilxochitl—pushed the farthest into overt
speech and act his contempt of the vulgar idolatry and
his recognition of a high, holy, and to a great extent
unknowable supreme power. This thoughtful monarch
‘ “found for false all the gods adored by the people of
this land, saying that they were statues and demons

33 Camargo, Hist. de Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1848, tom, xcviii.,
p. 191, tom. xcix., p. 168.
3 Motolinia, Hist, Indios, in Icazbalceta, Col., tom. i., pp.4, 33-24.

worde

35 [ef
261, «
diciendd

ue fue
onde t
88 cosa
SUS cantd
solo,
hecho y¢
Cielos, qu
figura, q
Y que lag
de trabajd
que repre

general n

wl, que 4
sol por pa
author, jn

THE CREED OF NEZAHUALCOYOTIL,

We hostile to the
d the
irs of
ay.”*
te ac-
—the
s best
jes in
lipoca
it and
“had shape Nor in a
also virtuous went

sac bad went to anoth

Boe earth, filled
lions, N ever—tho
ented idols—did the

many when divinity Ww aque y
nihar palne moalani, 8 up his Convictions
large as above ex 8 he recognized the sun
ed,— as hi

earth as his mother,’ %
e sun. N

e face of much that has been
Ixtlilxochit]’

nat I have |
m among
e AMisto)

ost clear]
st complete; but

de todag
4n testimonio

nana, ni otra
Spues de

*

24N much
particular,
af RNnifica lo
, xeviii,, Sol por padre; Yala
t.

-’ See also the Relaciones of the same
Suthor, jn the same Volume, p, 464,

198 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

solely on account of the sentence with which it concludes:
Nezahualcoyotl “recognized the sun as his father
and the earth as his mother.” These few words occurr-
ing at the end of a eulogy of the great Tezcucan by a
confessed admirer, these few words that have passed un-
noticed amid the din and hubbub raised over the lofty
creed to which they form the last article, these few words
so insignificant apparently and yet so significant in their
connection,—should go far to prove the faithfulness of
of Ixtlilxochitl’s record, and the greater or less complete-
ness of his portrait of his great ancestor. Were Ixtlilxo-
chitl dishonest, would he ever have allowed such a pagan
chord as this to come jangling into the otherwise perfect
music of his description of a perfect sage and Christian,
who believed in a God alone and all-sufficient, who be-
lieved in a creator of all things without any help at all,
much less the help of his dead material creatures the sun
and the earth? Let us admit the honesty of Ixtlilxo-
chitl, and admit with him a knowledge of that Unknown
God, whom, as did the Athenians, Nezahualcoyotl igno-
rantly worshiped; but let us not be blinded by a glitter
of words—which we may be sure lose nothing in the
repetition—as to the significance of that ‘ignorantly;’
let us never lose sight across the shadow of that obscure
Athenian altar to the Unknown God, of the mighty
columns of the Acropolis and the crest of the Athena
Promachos. Nezahualcoyotl seems a fair type of a
thoughtful, somewhat sceptical Mexican of that better-
instructed class which is ever and everywhere the horror
of hypocrites and fanatics, of that class never without
its witnesses in all countries and at all times, of that
class two steps above the ignorant ‘aity, and one step
‘above the learned pri:‘sthood, yet far still from that simple
and perfect truth wh ch shall one day be patent enough
to all.

Turning from the « sussion of a point so obscure and
intangible as the monc :eism of Nezahualcoyotl and the
school of which he was 4e type, let us review the very

palpable and indubitat 2 polytheism of the Mexicans.

witl
trati
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2 very
icans.

200 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

O, thou almighty God, that givest life to men, and
art called Titlacaoan, grant me in thy mercy everything
needful to eat and to drink, and to enjoy of thy soft and
delicate things; for in grievous toil and straitness I live
in the world. Have mercy on me, so poor I am and
naked, I that labor in thy service, and for thy service
sweep, and clean, and put light in this poor house, where
I await thine orders; otherwise let me die soon and end
this toilful and miserable life, so that my body may find
rest and a breathing-time.

In illness the people prayed to this deity as follows:
O God, whose name is Titlacaoan, be merciful and send
away this sickness which is killing me, and I will reform
my life. Let me be once healed of this infirmity and I
swear to serve thee and to earn the right to live; should
I by hard toil gain something, I will not eat it nor
employ it in anything save only to thine honor; I will
give a feast and a banquet of dancing in this poor house,

But the sick man that could not recover, and that felt
it so, used to grow desperate and blaspheme saying: O
Titlacaoan, since thou mockest me, why dost thou not
kill me?”

Then following is a prayer to Tezcatlipoca, used by
the priest in timeof pestilence: O mighty Lord, under
whose wing we find defense and shelter, thou art invis-
ible and impalpable even as night and the air. How
can I that am so mean and worthless dare to appear be-
fore thy majesty? Stuttering and with rude lips I speak;
ungainly is the manner of my speech as one leaping
among furrows, as one advancing unevenly; for all this
I fear to raise thine anger, and to provoke instead of ap-
peasing thee; nevertheless thou wilt do unto me as may
please thee. O Lord, that hast held it good to forsake
us in these days, according to the counsel thou hast as
well in heaven as in hades,—alas for us, in that thine
anger and indignation has descended in these days
upon us; alas, in that the many and grievous afflictions
of thy wrath have overgone and swallowed us up,
% Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. i., lib, iii, pp, 241-2,

gethe
veril
be nc
place
Pera
the p
be ra:
Js it
and

e
bitter whips
come lean

all thing
the worl ‘
breast hast
gether forsa
verily deter

places of p

be razed and d

Js it indeed
and vexed i

raakes in

, the little
understand nothin ;
p little mounds

» 1s upon thy
8, leaving

unow, O L
nd impalp ble, whose will
disposal depends the rule of

subject, —w

203 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

will go on to the end to our destruction? Is it already
fixed in thy divine counsel that there is to be no mercy
nor pity for us, until the arrows of thy fury are spent to
our utter perdition'and destruction? Is it possible that
this lash and chastisement is not given for our cor-
rection and amendment, but only for our total destruc-
tion and obliteration; that the sun shall nevermore
shine upon us, but that we must remain in perpetual
darkness and silence; that nevermore thou wilt look
upon us with eyes of mercy, neither little nor much?
Wilt thou after this fashion destroy the wretched sick
that cannot find rest nor turn from side to side,
whose mouth and teeth are filled with earth and
scurf? It is a sore thing to tell how we are all in dark-
ness, having none understanding nor sense to watch for
or aid one another. We are all as drunken and without
understanding, without hope of any aid; already the
little children perish of hunger, for there is none to give
them food, nor drink, nor consolation, nor caress,—none to
give the breast to them that suck; for their fathers and
and mothers have died and left them orphans, suffer-
ing for the sins of their fathers. O our Lord, all-
powerful, full of mercy, our refuge, though indeed
thine anger and indignation, thine arrows and stones, have
sorely hurt this poor people, let it be as a father or a
mother that rebukes children, pulling their ears, pinch-
ing their arms, whipping them with nettles, pouring
chill water upon them; all being done that they may
amend their puerility and childishness. Thy chastise-
ment and indignation have lorded and prevailed over
these thy servants, over this poor people, even as rain
falling upon the trees and the green canes, being touched
of the wind, drops also upon those that are below. O most
compassionate Lord, thou knowest that the common folk
are as children, that being whipped they cry and sob and
repent of what they have done. Peradventure, already
these poor people by reason of thy chastisement weep, sigh,
blame, and murmur against themselves; in thy presence
they blame and bear witness against their bad beeds and

of tl
fact
suffi
men
thin
smal
the
caus
knoy
ate, |

204

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

and I have nothing more to say, only to prostrate and
throw myself at thy feet, seeking pardon for the faults
of this my prayer; certainly I would not remain in thy
displeasure, and I have no other thing to say.

The following is a prayer to the same deity, under his
namcs Tezcatlipuca and Yoalliehecatl, for succor against
poverty: our Lord, protector most strong and com-
passionate, invisible, and impalpable, thou art the giver
of life; lord of all, and lord of battles, I present myself
here before thee to say some few words concerning the
need of tine poor people, the people of none estate nor
intelligence. When they lie down at night they have
nothing, nor when they rise up in the morning; the
darkness and the light pass alike in great poverty.
Know, O Lord, that thy subjects and servants, suffer a
sore poverty that cannot be told of more than that it is
a sore poverty and desolateness. The men have no gar-
ments nor the women to cover themselves with, but only
certain rags rent in every part that allow the air and the
cold to pass everywhere. With great toil and weariness
they scrape together enough for each day, going by
mountain and wilderness seeking their food; so faint and
enfeebled are they that their bowels cleave to the ribs,
and all their body reéchoes with hollowness; and they
walk as people affrighted, the face and the body in like-
ness of death. If they be merchants, they now sell
only cakes of salt and broken pepper; the people that
have something despise their wares, so that they go out
to sell from door to door and from house to house; and
when they sell nothing they sit down sadly by some fence,
or wall, or in some corner, licking their lips and gnaw-
ing the ..0ils of their hands for the hunger that is in
them; they look on the one side and on the other at the
mouths of those that pass by, hoping peradventure that
one may speak some word to them. O compassionate
God, the bed on which they lie down is not a thing to
rest upon, but to endure torment in; they draw a rag
over them at night and so sleep ; there they throw down
their bodies and the bodies of children that thou hast

need,
shall
not, ¢
but t
they
In cor
icent
to tas
give,

7 Po

PRAYER FOR AID AGAINST POVERTY. 205

given them. For the misery they grow up in, for the
filth” of their food, for the lack of covering, their faces
are yellow and all their bodies of the color of earth.
They tremble with cold, and for leanness they stagger in
walking. They go weeping, and sighing, and full of
sadness, and all misfortunes are joined to them; though
they stay by a fire they find little heat. O our Lord,
most clement, invisible, and impalpable, I supplicate
thee to see good to have pity upon them as they move in
thy presence wailing and clamoring and seeking mercy
with anguish of heart. O our Lord, in whose power it
is to give all content, consolation, sweetness, softness,
prosperity and riches, for thou alone art lord of all good,
—have mercy upon them for they are thy servants. I
supplicate thee, O Lord, that thou prove them a little
with tenderness, indulgence, sweetness, and softness,
which indeed they sorely lack and require. 1 suppli-
cate thee that thou will lift up their heads with thy favor
and aid, that thou will see good that they enjoy some
days of prosperity and tranquillity, so they may sleep and
know repose, having prosperous and peaceable days of
life. Should they still refuse to serve thee, thou after-
wards canst take away what thou hast given; they having
enjoyed it but a few days, as those that enjoy a fragrant
and beautiful flower and find it wither presently. Should
this nation, for whom I pray and entreat thee todo them
good, not understand what thou hast given, thou canst
take away the good and pour out cursing; so that all
evil may come upon them, and they become poor, in
need, maimed, lame, blind, and deaf: then indeed they
shall waken and know the good that they had and have
not, and they shall call upon thee and lean towards thee ;
but thou wilt not listen, for in the day of abundance
they would not understand thy goodness towards them.
In conclusion, I supplicate thee, O most kind and benif-
icent Lord, that thou will see good to give this people
to taste of the goods and riches that thou art wont to
give, and that proceed from thee, things sweet and soft

% Por la freza de la comida: Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. ii., lib, vi, p, 30.

ee

206 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

and bringing content and joy, although it be but for a little
while, and as a dream that passes. For it is certain that
for a long time the people go e..dly before thee, weeping
and thoughtful, because of the anguish, hardship, and
anxiety that fill their bodies and hearts, taking away all
ease and rest. Verily, it is not doubtful that to this poor
nation, needy and shelterless, happens all I have said.
If thou answerest my petition it will be only of thy
liberality and magnificence, for no one is worthy to re-
ceive thy bounty for any merit of his, but only through
thy grace. Search below the dung-hills and in the
mountains for thy servants, friends, and acquaintance,
and raise them to riches and dignities. O our Lord,
most clement, let thy will be done as it is ordained in
thy heart, and we shall have nothing to say. I, a rude
man and common, would not by importunity and pro-
lixity disgust and annoy thee, detailing my sickness,
destruction, and punishment. Whom do I spk to?
Where am I? Lo I speak with thee, O King; well do I
krow that I stand in an eminent place, and that I talk
with one of great majesty, before whose presence
flows a river through a chasm, a gulf sheer down of
awful depth; this also is a slippery place, whence many
precipitate themselves, for there shall not be found one
without error before thy majesty. I myself, a man of
little understanding and lacking speech, dr''e to address
my words to thee; I put myself in <_“ of falling into the
gorge and cavern of this river. 1, Lord, have come to
take with: my hands blindness to mine eyes, rotten-
ness and shrivelling to my members, poverty and
affliction to my body; for my meanness and rudeness
this it is that I merit to receive. Live and rule for

ever in all quietness and tranquillity, O thou that art our
lord, our shelter, our protector, most compassionate, most
pitiful, invisible, impalpable.

This following is a petition in time of war to the same
principal god, under his name of Tezcatlipoca Y autlnecoci-
antlmonenequi, praying favor against the enemy: O our
Lord, most compassionate, protector, defender, invisible,

im]
and
of b
hegi
the
of tl
wist
calle
the
with
this
and
quer,
have
it is
that
and |
Even
nurse
thers
their |
age th
how tl
ious]
dei
nobles
agreea)
and tk
verily
to wit,
for th:

fame, Hist,

PRAYER IN TIME OF WAR. 207

impalpable, by whose will and wisdom we are directed
and governed, beneath whose rule we live, —O, Lord
of battles, it is a thing very certain and settled that war
begins to be arranged and prepared for. The god of
the earth opens his: mouth, thirsty to drink the blood
of them that shall die in this strife. It seems that they
wish to be merry, the sun and the god of the earth
called Tlaltecutli; they wish to give to eat and drink to
the gods of heaven and hades, making them a banquet
with the blood and flesh of the men that have to die in
this war. Already do they look, the gods of heaven
and hades, to see who they are that have to con-
quer, and who to be conquered; who they are that
have to slay, and who to be slain; whose blood
it is that has to be drunken, and whose flesh it is
that has to be eaten;—which things the noble fathers
and mothers whose sons have to die, are ignorant of.
Even so are ignorant all their kith and kin, and the
nurses that gave them suck,—ignorant also are the fa-
thers that toiled for them, seeking things needful for
their food and drink and raiment until they reached the
age they now have. Certainly they could not foretell
how those sons should end whom they reared so anx-
iously, or that they should be one day left captives or
dead upon the field. See good, O our Lord, that the
nobles who die in the shock of war be peacefully and
agreeably received, and with bowels of love, by the sun
and the earth that are father and mother of all. For
verily thou dost not deceive thyself in what thou doest,”
to wit, in wishing them to die in war; for certainly
for this didst thou send them into the world, so
that with their flesh and their blood they might be
for meat and drink to the sun and the earth. Be not
wroth, O Lord, anew against those of the profession of
war, for in the same place where they will die have died

38 ‘Porque & la verdad no i engafiais con lo que haceis:’ see Sahagun, in
wie hy Mea, Antig., vol. v., +P 856, as the een of ‘engaiieis’
for ‘ on ’ destroys the sense of the passage in Bustamante's ed. of the
same, Hist, Gen., tom, ii,, lib. vi., p. 43,

208 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

many generous” and noble lords and captains, and
valiant men. The nobility and generosity of the nobles
and the greatheartedness of the warriors is made appar-
ent, and thou makest manifest, 0 Lord, how estimable
and precious is each one, so that as-such he may be held
and honored, even as a stone of price or a rich feather.
O Lord, most clement, lord of battles, emperor of all,
whose name is Tezcatlipoca, invisible and impalpable,
we supplicate thee that he or they that thou wilt per-
mit to die in this war may be received into the house of
the sun in heaven, with love and honor, and may be
placed and lodged between the brave and famous war-
riors already dead in war, to wit, the lords Quitzicqua-
quatzin, Maceuhcatzin, Tlacahuepantzin, Ixtlilcuechavac,
Thuitltemuc, Chavacuetzin, anc all the other valiant and
renowned men that died in former times,—who are re-
joicing with and praising our lord the sun, who are glad
and eternally rich through him, and shall be for ever;
they go about sucking the sweetness of all flowers delec-
table and pleasant to the taste. This is a great dignity
for the stout and valiant ones that died in war; for this
they are drunken with delight, keeping no account of
night, nor day, nor years, nor times; their joy and their
wealth is without end; the nectarous flowers they sip
never fade, and for the desire thereof men of high de-
scent strengthen themselves to die. In conclusion, I
entreat thee, O Lord, that art our lord most clement,
our emperor most invincible, to see good that those that
die in this war be received with bowels of pity and love
by our father the sun, and our mother the earth; for
thou only livest and rulest and art our most compassion.
ate lord. Nor doI supplicate alone for the illustrious and
noble, but also for the other soldiers, who are troubled and
tormented in heart, who clamor, calling upon thee,
holding their lives as nothing, and who fling themselves
without fear upon the enemy, seeking death. Grant

39 By an error and a solecism of Bustamente’s ed. the words ‘gentes
rojos’ are substituted for the de ‘generosos;’ see, as in the preced-
be tg Sahagun, in Kingsborough's Mea. Antig., vol. v., p. 357, and Sahagun,

. Gen., tom. ii., lib, vi, p. 48,

chalchi
and to
things
thy ric]
feats an
Lord, t
soldiers,
world, n
cowardic
Meet de
sweet thi
the hoots
as to thy
On whose
wilt, neec
O Lord, |
without ]
hands, it
do 6
Sahagune ae

‘Borlas,
given ‘bollag

Von,

PRAYER TO TEE GOD OF BATTLEs.
them at least some

if here, in
officers of th ‘
hades and to in h

ad, and ear-ri
have yellow skins

privilege of appoin
every one shall wear.

ou givest

hands,

{0 'Bs decir Comandanteg

Sahagun, Hist, Gen, tom, ii,, lib
‘Borlas,’ gee Sahagun,
Biven ‘bollag ’ in Bustama

”
inte’
Von. II, 14

210 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

so much hardship and poverty. O our Lord, since
thou art God, all-powerful, all-knowing, disposer of all
things, able to make this land rich, prosperous, praised,
honored, famed in the art and feats of war, able to make
the warriors now in the field to live and be prosperous,
if, in the days at hand, thou see good that they die in
war, let it be to go to the house of the sun, among all
the heroes that are there and that died upon the battle-
field.

The following prayer is one addressed to the principal
deity, under his name Tezcatlipoca Teiocoiani Tehima-
tini, asking favor for a newly elected ruler: To-day, a
fortunate day, the sun has risen upon us, warming us, so
that in it a precious stone may be wrought, and a hand-
some sapphire. To us has appeared a new light, has
arrived a new brightness, to us has been given a glitter-
ing axe to rule and govern our nation,—has been given
a man to take upon his shoulders the affairs and troubles
of the state. He is to be the image and substitute of
the lords and governors that have already passed away
from this life, who for some days labored, bearing
the burden of thy people, possessing thy throne and
seat, which is the principal dignity“ of this thy nation,
province, and kingdom; having and holding the same
in thy name and person some few days. These have
now departed from this life, put off their shoulders the
great load and burden that so few are able tosuffer. Now,
O Lord, we marvel that thou hast indeed set thine eyes
on this man, rude and of little knowledge, to make him
for some days, for some little time, the governor of this
state, nation, province, and kingdom. 0 our Lord, most
clement, art thou peradventure in want of persons and
friends ?—nay verily, thou that hast thereof more than
can be counted! Is it, peradventure, by error, or that
thou dost not know him; or is it that thou hast taken
him for the nonce, while thou seckest among many for

“a ‘ Dignidad,’ Sahagun, in Kingsborough's Mee, Antig., vol. v., . 859,
a iy ‘diligencia’ in Bustamente’s Sahagun, Hist Hit Gen. tom. ii., lib.

anot

profi

give

us,

perh:

thy J

this .
that }

fear t
sidera
has, tl]
makin
dignit;
presun
with pc
know t
theatre

merry,
through
careless)
from th
wood, a
and the
Then the
dung-hil
ings, anc
when tho
man ig I
who art ¢
tor, unde:
disposes (
that thou
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deign to pl
what he he
he has to fi
Contrary te
what nigh I
night; we

OD CO SOS Dew RB

ey»
~~

ee ee ee ae a ee

3

-

PRAYER THAT A RULER MAY

RULE WELL,
another and

n thy
imes,

?

wood, and th
and the secret boas

r
peril, we supplicate thee,
ur invisible palpable protec.

» Most clement,

that our

212 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

ways and deeds are not so much in our hands as in the
hands of our ruler. If this ruler after an evil and per-
verse fashion, in the place to which thou hast elevated
him, and in the seat in which thou hast put him,—which
is thine,—where he manages the affairs of the people,
as one that washes filthy things with clean and clear
water, (yea in the same seat holds a similar cleansing
office the ancient god, who is father and mother to thy-
self, and is god of fire, who stands in the midst of flowers,
in the midst of the piace bounded by four walls, who is
covered with shining feathers that are as wings) ,— if this
ruler-elect of ours do evil with which to provoke thine
ire and indignation, and to awaken thy chastisement
against himself, it will not be of his own will or seek-
ing, but by thy permission or by some impulse from
without; for which I entreat thee to see good to open his
eyes to give him light; open also his ears and guide him,
not so much for his own sake as for that of those whom
he has to rule over and carry on his shoulders.“ I sup-

43 This doubtful andinvolved sentence, with the contained clause touching
the nature of the fire-god, runs exactly as follows in the two varying editions
of the original: ‘Si alguna cosa aviesa 6 mal heche hiciera en la dignidad que
le habeis dado, y en la silla en que le habeis puesto, que és vuestra, donde
esti tratando los negocios populares, como quien lava cosas sucias con agua
muy clara y muy limpia; en la qual silla y dignidad tiene el mismo oficio de
lavar vuestro padre y madre de todos los Dioses, el Dios antiguo que és el
Dios del fuego, que esté en medio del albergue cerca de quatro paredes, y
est& cubierto con plumas resplandecientes que son como alas, lo que este
electo hiciese mal hecho, con que provoque vuestra ira é indignacion, y des-
pierte vuestro castigo contra si, noserA de su albedriv 6 de su querer, sino de
vuestra permision, 6 de algun otra sugestion vuestra, 6 de otro; por lo cual os
suplico tengais por bien de abrirle los ojos y darle lumbre y abrirle las orejas,
y guiadle 4 este pobre electo, no tanto por lo que ¢1 és, sino principalmente

r payalioe & quienes ha de regir y llevar 4 cuestas,’ Sahagun, in Kings-

orough’s Mex. Antig., vol. v., pp. 360-361. ‘Si alguna cosa aviesa é mal
hecha hiciere, en la dignidad que le habeis dido, y en la silla en que lo
habeis puesto que es vuestra, donde esi’ tratando los negocios populares,
como quien laba cosas sucias, con agus mvy clara y muy limpia, on la cual
silla y dignidad tiene el mismo oficio de jabar vuestro padre y madre, de
todos los dioses, el dios antiguo, que es “1 dios del fuego que est en medio
de las flores, y en medio del alhergus cercado de cuatro paredes, y esté
cubierto con plumas resplandecientes que son somo Alas; lo que este electo
hiciere mal hecho con que provoque vuestra ira é indignacion, y despierte
vuestro castigo contra sf, no serA de su alvedrio de 6 su querer, sino de vues-
tra permision, 6 de alguna otra sugestion vuestra, 6 de otro; por lo cual os
suplico tengais lye bien de abirle los ojos, y darle luz, y abridle tambien las
Orejas, y guiad & este pobre electo; no tanto por lo que es ¢l, sino principal-
mente por aquellos 4 quien ha de regir y llevar acuestas:’ Bustamentes
Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 48.

e

plica
him
road
a sea
flute
Make
mit 1
proud
quiet!
charge
insult
reason
Lord,
any ir
also th
r ny
that th
and ric
feet, he
lets, an
not, 0]
be to h
that he
please {
govern
him, wi
that he
walk wi
thou wi
forth he
war at 1
house ot
precious
he dyin;
would be
to be dis
defects,
things n
entreatec

THAT A RUI-ER MAY NOT ABUSE HIS POWER. 218

plicate thee, that now, from the beginning, thou inspire
him with what he is to conceive in his heart, and the
road he is to follow, inasmuch as thou hast made of him
a seat on which to seat thyself, and also as it were a
flute that, being played upon, may signify thy will.
Make him, O Lord, a faithful image of thyself, and per-
mit not that in thy throne and hall he make himself
proud and haughty; but rather see good, O Lord, that
quietly and prudently he rule and govern those in his
charge who are common people: do not permit him to
insult and oppress his subjects, nor to give over without
reason any of them to destruction. Neither permit, O
Lord, that he spot and defile thy throne and hall with
any injustice or oppression, for in so doing he will stain
also thine honor and fame. Already, O Lord, has this
poor man accepted and received the honor and lordship
that thou hast given him; already he possesses the glory
and riches thereof; already thou hast adorned his hands,
feet, head, ears, and lips, with visor, ear-rings, and brace-
lets, and put yellow leather upon his ankles. Permit it
not, O Lord, that these decorations, badges, and ornaments
be to him a cause of pride and presumption; but rather
that he serve thee with humility and plainness. May it
please thee, O our Lord, most clement, that he rule and
govern this, thy seignory, that thou hast committed to
him, with all prudence and wisdom. May it please thee
that he do nothing wrong or to thine offense; deign to
walk with him and direct him in all his ways. But if
thou wilt not do this, ordain that from this day hence-
forth he be abhorred and disliked, and that he die in
war at the hands of his enemies, that he depart to the
house of the sun; where he will be taken care of asa
precious stone, and his heart esteemed by the sun-lord;
he dying in the war like a stout and valiant man. This
would be much better than to be dishonored in the world,
to be disliked and abhorred of his people for his faults or
defects. O our Lord, thou that providest to all the
things needful for them, let this thing be done as I have
entreated and supplicated thee.

214 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

The next prayer, directed to the god under his name
Tezcatlipoca Titlacaoamoquequeloa, 1s to ask, after the
death of a ruler, that another may be given: O our
Lord, already thou knowest how our ruler is dead,
already thou hast put him under thy feet; he is gathered
to his place; he is gone by the road that all have to go
by, and to the house where all have to lodge; house of
perpetual darkness, where there is no window, nor any
light at all; he is now where none shall trouble his rest.
He served thee here in his office during some few days
and years, not indeed without fault and offense. Thou
gavest him to taste in this world somewhat of thy kind-
ness and favor, passing it before his face as a thing that
passes quickly. This is the dignity and office that thou
placedst him in, that he served thee in for some days, as
has been said, with sighs, tears and devout prayers be-
fore thy majesty. Alas, he is gone now where our
futher and mother the god of hades is, the god that
descended head foremost below the fire,“ the god that
desires to carry us all to his place, with a very impor-
tunate desire, with such a desire as one has that dies of
hunger and thirst; the god that is-moved exceedingly,
both by day and night, crying and demanding that all
go to him. There, with this god, is now our late-de-
parted ruler; he is there with all his ancestors that were
in the first times, that governed this kingdom, with
Acamapichtli, with Tyzoc, with Avitzotl, with the first
Mocthecuzoma, with Axayacatl, and with those that
came last, as the second Mocthecuzoma and also Moc-
theenvoria Ihuicamina.” All these lords and kings
ruled, governed, and enjoyed the sovereignty and royal
dignity, and throne and seat of this empire; they
ordered and regulated the affairs of this thy kingdom,—
thou that art the universal lord and emperor, and that
needest not to take counsel with another. Already had

4 See this volume p. 60,

45 Some of these names are differently spelt in Kingsborough’s ed., Mew.
Antiq., vol. v., p. 362.: ‘ Uno de los quales fué Camapichtli, otro fudé Tizocic,
otro Avitzotl, otro el primero Motezuzoma, otro Axnyacn, y los que ahora A
la parte han muerto, como el segundo Motezuzoma, y tambien Ylhiycamina)’

me
the
our
ead,
ered
0 go
se of
any
rest.
days
Thou
<ind-
that
thou
8, 08
rs be-
e our
1 that
1 that
mpor-
hies of
ingly,
hat all
te-dle-
were
with
first
that
Moce-
kings
royal
they
m,—
\ that
had

H., Mew.

izocie,
ahora A
laminas

THAT A RULER BE SET OVER THE NATION. 215

these put off the intolerable load that they had on their
shoulders, leaving it to their successor, our late ruler, so
that for some days he bore up this lordship and kingdom ;
but now he has passed on after his predecessors to the
other world. For thou didst ordain him to go, and didst
call him to give thanks for being unloaded of so great
a burden, quit of so sore a toil, and left in peace and
rest. Some few days we have enjoyed him, but now
forever he is absent from us, never more to return to
the world. Peradventure has he gone to any place
whence he can return here, so that his subjects may see
his face again? Will he come again to tell us to do this
or that? Will he come again to look to the consuls or
governors of the state? Peradventure will they see him
any more, or hear his decree and commandment? Will he
come any more to give consolation and comfort to his
principal men and his consuls? Alas, there is an end
to his presence, he is gone for ever. Alas, that our
candle has been quenched, and our light, that the axe
that shone with us is lost altogether. Al his subjects and
inferiors, he has left in orphanage and without shelter.
Peradventure will he take care henceforward of this
city, province, and kingdom, though this city be de-
stroyed and leveled to the ground, with this seignory
and kingdom? O our Lord, most clement, is it a fit
thing that by the absence of him that died shall come to
the city, seignory, and kingdom some misfortune, in
which will be destroyed, undone, and affrighted the vas-
sals that live therein? For while living, he who has
died gave shelter under his wings, and kept his feathers
spread over the people. Great danger runs this your
city, seignory, and kingdom, if another ruler be not
elected immediately to be a shelter thereto. What is it
that thou art resolved to do? Is it good that thy people
be in darkness? Is it good that they be without head or
shelter? Is it thy will that they be leveled down and
destroyed? Woe for the poor and the little ones, thy
servants. *' vt go seeking a father and mother, some one
to shelter und govern them, even as. little children that

216 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

go weeping, seeking an absent father and mother, and
that grieve, not finding them. Woe for the merchants,
petty and poor, that go about by the mountains, deserts,
and meadows, woe also to the sad toilers that; go about
seeking herbs to eat, roots and wood to burn, or to sell,
to eke out an existence withal. Woe for tae poor sol-
diers, for the men of. war, that go about seeking death,
that abhor life, that think of nothing but ‘he field and
the line where battle is given,—upon whom shall they
call? who shall take a captive? to whom shall they pre-
sent the same? And if they themselves be taken cap-
tive, to whom shall they give notice, that it may be
known in their land? Whom shall they take for father
and mother, so that in such acase favor may be granted
them? Since he whose duty it was to see to this, who
was as father and mother to all, is already dead. There
will be none to weep, to sigh for the captives, to tell
their relatives about them. Woe for the poor of the
litigants, for those that have lawsuits with those that
would take their estates. Who will judge, make peace
among, and clear them of their disputes and quarrels?
Behold when a child becomes dirty, if his mother clean
him not, he must remain filthy. And those that, make
strife between themselves, that beat, that knock down,
who will keep peace between them? Those that for all
this go weeping and shedding tears, who shall wipe away
their tears and put a stop to their laments? Peradven-
ture can they apply a remedy to themselves? Those
deserving death, will they peradventure pass sentence
upon themselves? Who shall set up the throne of
justice? Who shall possess the hall of the judge,
since there is no judge? Who will ordain the
things that ave necessary for the good of this city,
seignory, and kingdom? Who will elect the special
judges that have charge of the lower people, district by
district? Who will look to the sounding of the drum
and fife to gather the people for war? who will collect
and lead the soldiers ani dexterous men to battle? O
our Lord and protector see good to elect and decide upon

thou
or fi
hidd
any (
80U0r¢
our yp
dignit
his w
that t

PRAYER TO Le RID OF A BAD RULER,
some person su

Lord, mos

every one that approa

ht and breadth, thou th

that art, as we unde
es and the trees,

For this same re
howest shat ig withi

one thoughts.
nee Or fog that vis
of » hidden frony
ge, Any One; dr thoi sees
the Sources of hig pride Owest that
ty, our ruler has a ery abuses the
sial dignity that thou hast given him, as the drunkard abuses
by is wine, ay one drunken with a soporific ;" that is to 8a
um that the riches, dignity, and abundance that for a little
lect {6 ‘Obejas,’ in Bustamente's ed, Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom, fi., lib, vi, p,
0 oa) apaiaa’ in ayonourh's Mew, Antig +» Vol, v,, Ps 564,
ites 64 omo 61 loco de jog elefos, lahagun, Hist, Gen., tom, fi., Nb, vi.,

218 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

while thou hast given him, fill him with error, haughti-
ness, and unrest, and that he becomes a fool, intoxicated
with the poison that makes him mad. His prosperity
causes him to despise and make little of every one; it
seems that his heart is covered with sharp thorns and
also his face: all of which is made apparent by his man-
ner of living, and by his manner of talking; never say-
ing nor doing anything u.ct gives pleasure to any one,
never caring for any one, never taking counsel of any one;
he ever lives as seems good to him and as the whim
directs. O our Lord, most clement, protector of all,
creato: and maker of all, it is too certain that this man
has destroye:: }isself, has acted like a child ungrateful
to his father, a drunkard without reason. The
favors thou hast i. orded him, the dignity thou hast set
him in, have occasioned his perdition. Besides these,
there is another thing, exceedingly hurtful and repre-
hensible: he is irreligious, never praying to the gods,
never weeping before them, nor grieving for his sins, nor
sighing; from this it comes about that he is as headstrong
as a drunkard in his vices, going about like a hollow and
empty person, wholly senseless; he stays not to consider
what he is nor the office that he fills. Of a verity he
dishonors and affronts the dignity and throne that he
holds, which is thine, and which ought to be much
honored and reverenced ; for from it depeurls the justice
and rightness of the judicature that he holds, for the sus-
taining and worthily directing of thy nation, thou being
emperor of all. He should so hold his power that the low-
er pecple be not injured and oppressed by the great; from
him should fall punishment and humiliation on those
that respect not thy power and dignity. But all things
and people suffer loss in that he fills not his office as he
ought. The merchants suffer also, who are those to whom
thou givest the most of thy riches, who overrun all the
world, yea the mountains and the unpeopled places,
seeking through much sorrow thy gifts, favors, and dain-
ties, the which thou givest sparingly and to thy friends.
Ah, Lord, not only does he dishonor thee as aforesaid,

pro’

rust
drin
plea
48 |

sheep
can ha

ing
llow-
rom
108e
ings
s he
hom
the
48,
ain-
ids,
: aid )

THAT A BAD RULER BE REMOVED. 219

but also when we are gathered together to intone thy
songs, gathered in the place where we solicit thy mercies
and gifts, in the place where thou art praised and prayed
to, where the sad afflicted ones and the poor gather com-
fort and strength, where very cowards find spirit to die
in war,—in this so holy and reverend place this man
exhibits his dissoluteness and hurts devotion; he troubles
those that serve and praise thee in the place where thou
gatherest and markest thy friends, as a shepherd marks
his flock.“ Since thou, Lord, hearest and knowest to be
true all that I have now said in thy presence, there re-
mains no more but that thy will be done, and the
pleasure of thy heart to the remedy of this affair. At
least, O Lord, punish this man in such wise that he be-
come a warning to others, so that they may not imitate
his evil life. Let the punishment fall on him from thy
hand that to thee seems most meet, be it sickness or
any other affliction; or deprive him of the lordship, so
that thou mayest give it to another, to one of thy friends,
to one humble, devoted, and penitent; for many such
thou hast, thou that lackest not persons such as are
necessary for this office, friends that hope, crying to thee:
thou knowest those for friends and servants that weep
and sigh in thy presence every day. Elect some one of
these that he may hold the dignity of this thy kingdom
and seignory; make trial of some of these. And now,
O Lord, of all the aforesaid things which is it that thou
wilt grant? Wilt thou take from this ruler the lordship,
dignity, and riches on which he prides himself, and give
them to another who may be devout, penitent, humble,
obedient, capable, and of good understanding? Or, per-
adventure, wilt thou be served by the falling of this
proud one into poverty and misery, as one of the poor
rustics that can hardly gather the wherewithal to eat,
drink, and clothe himself? Or, peradventure, will it
please thee to smite him with a sore punishment so that

48 Both editors of Sahagun agree here in using the word ‘obejas.’ As

sheep were unknown in Moxico it is too evident that other hands than Mexi-
can have bean employed in the construction of this simile,

220 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

all his body may shrivel up, or his eyes be made blind,
or his members rotten? Or wilt thou be pleased
to withdraw him from the world through death, and
send him to hades, to the house of darkness and obscur-
ity, where his ancestors are, whither we have all to go,
where our father is, and our mother, the god and the
goddess of hell. O our Lord, most clement, what is it
that thy heart desires the most? Let thy will be done.
And in this matter in which I supplicate thee, I am not
moved by envy nor hate; nor with any such motives
have I come into thy presence. I am moved only by
the robbery and ill-treatment that the people suffer, only
by a desire for their peace and prosperity. I would not
desire, O Lord, to provoke against myself thy wrath and
indignation, I that am a mean man and rude; for it is
to thee, O Lord, to penetrate the heart and to know the
thoughts of all mortals,

The following is a form of Mexican prayer to Tezcat-
lipoca, useu by the officiating confessor after having heard
a confession of sins from some one. The peculiarity of
a Mexican confession was that it could not lawfully have
place in a man’s life more than once; a man’s first absolu-
tion and remission of sins was also the last and the only
one he had to hope for:—O our most compassionate
Lord, protector and favorer of all, thou hast now heard
the confession of this poor sinner, with which he has
published in thy presence his rottenness and unsavori-
ness. Perhaps he has hidden some of his sins before
thee, and if it be so he has irreverently and offensively
mocked thy majesty, and thrown himself into a dark
cavern and into a deep ravine; he has snared and en-
tangled himself; he has made himself worthy of blind-
ness, shrivelling and rotting of the members, poverty,
and misery. Alas, if this poor sinner have attempted

49 ‘Si es asf ha hecho burla de V.M., y con desacato y grande ofensa, se
ha arrojado 4 una cima, y en una profunda barranca;’ Mustamente’s ed. of
Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. ii, lib. vi, p. 58. The same passage runs as fol-
lows in Kingsborough’s ed.: ‘Si és asi ha hecho burla de vuectra magestad, y
con desacato z grande ofensa de vuestra magestad serd arrojado en una sima,
y en una profunda barranca;’ Ainysborough's Mee, Antig., vol. v., p. 367,

PRAYER USED BY A CONFESSOR OF SINS,

221
any such audacity
before thee th

Y con-
struction and

i at th .
his bein t is also a just thing that thy fury and

te’s ed, Sahagun, Hist,

51 ¢

Poca’ ig misprinted for ‘ poza’ in Bustamen
Gen., tom, ii., lib. v,, p, 68,

222 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

indignation against him be appeased and that his sins
be thrown on one side. Since thou art full of pity, O
Lord, see good to pardon and to cleanse him; grant him
the pardon and remission of his sins, a thing that de-
scends from heaven, as water very clear and very pure
to wash away sins,” with which thou washest away all
the stain and impurity that sin causes in the soul. See
good, O Lord, that this man go in peace, and command
him in what he has to do; let him go to do penance for
and to weep over his sins; give him the counsels neces-
sary to his well living.

At this point the confessor ceases from addressing the
god and turns to the penitent, saying: O my brother, thou
hast come into a place of much peril, a place of travail
and fear; thou hast come to a steep chasm and a sheer
rock, where if any one fall he shall never come up again;
thou hast come to the very place where the snares and the
nets touch one another, where they are set one upon an-
other, in such wise that no one may pass thereby without
falling into some of them, and not only snares and nets
but also holes like wells. Thou hast thrown thyself down
the banks of the river and among the snares and nets,
whence without aid it is not possible that thou shouldst
escape. These thy sins are not only snares, nets, and
wells, into which thou hast fallen, but they are also wild
beasts that kill and rend both body and soul. Perad-
venture, hast thou hidden some one or some of thy sins,
weighty, huge, filthy, unsavory, hidden something now
published in heaven, earth, and hades, something that
now stinks to the uttermost part of the world? Thou
hast now presented thyself before our most clement Lord
and protector of all, whom thou didst irritate, offend, and
provoke the anger of, who to-morrow, or some other
day, will take thee out of this world and put thee under

58 ‘Cosa qn esate del ce ae coma se Ards, Ve i hee ee san
4 pecados: Pingeeerous Antig., vol.
also Sahagun, Hat Gen. “tom, lib. ape
he qualit ty ty of Sees is Diy atrain’d
It drop as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon tl e place beneath: Merchant of Venice, act. iv.

zalcoatl fo
head of gol
wast like a
and ver

begun to live anew, and our
d a new sun,

224 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

more thou beginnest to radiate and to shine anew like
a very precious and clear stone, issuing from the belly
of the matrix in which it was created. Since this is
thus, see that thou live with much circumspection and very
advisedly now and henceforward, all the time that thou
mayest live in this world under the power and lordship
of our Lord God, most clement, beneficent, and munif-
icent. Weep, be sad, walk humbly, with submission,
with the head low and bowed down, praying to God.
Look that pride find no place within thee, otherwise thou
wilt displease our Lord, who sees the hearts and the
thoughts of all mortals. In what dost thou esteem thy-
self? At how much dost thou hold thyself? What is
thy foundation and root? On what dost thou support
thyself? It is clear that thou art nothing, canst do no-
thing, and art worth nothing; for our Lord will do with
thee all he may desire and none shall stay his hand.
Peradventure, must he show thee those things with
which he torments and afflicts, so that thou mayest see
them with thine eyes in this world? Nay verily, for the
torments and horrible sufferings of his tortures of the
other world are not visible, nor able to be seen by those
that live here. Perhaps he will condemn thee to the
universal house of hades; and the house where thou now
livest will fall down and be destroyed, and be as a dung-
hill of filthiness and uncleanness, thou having been ac-
customed to live therein with much satisfaction, waiting
to know how he would dispose of thee, he our Lord and
helper, the invisible, incorporeal and alone one. Therefore
I entreat thee to stand up and strengthen thyself and to
be no more henceforth as thou hast been in the past.
Take to thyself a new heart and a new manner of living,
and take good care not to turn again to thine old sins.
Consider that thou canst not see with thine eyes our
Lord God, for he is invisible and impalpable, he is Tez-
catlipoca, he is Titlacaoa, he is a youth of perfect per-
fection and without spot. Strengthen thyself to sweep,
to clean, and to arrange thy house; for if thou do not
this, thou wilt reject from thy company and from thy

Hist, Gen

self,

thou shalt,

Pass osier twj
holes pierced once th

226 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

and to ask favor and light for the proper performance of
his office: O our lord, most clement, invisible and im-
palpable protector and governor, well do I know that
thou knowest me, who am a poor man, of low destiny,
born and brought up among filth, and a man of small
reason and mean judgment, full of many defects and
faults, a man that knows not himself, nor considers who
he is. Thou hast bestowed on me a great benefit, favor,
and mercy, without any merit on my part; thou hast
lifted me from the dung-hill and set me in the royal
dignity and throne. Who am I, my Lord, and what is
my worth that thou shouldst put me among the num-
ber of those that thou lovest? among the number of
thine acquaintance, of those thou holdest for chosen
friends and worthy of all honor; born and brought up
for thrones and royal dignities; to this end thou hast
created them able, prudent, descended from noble and
generous fathers; for this end they were created and
educated; to be thine instruments and images they were
born and baptized under the signs and constellations that
lords are born under. They were born to rule thy king-
doms, thy word being within them and speaking by their
mouth »— according ‘to the desire of the ancient god,
the father of all the gods, the god of fire, who is in the
pond of water among turrets surrounded with stones like
roses, who is called Xiuhtecutli, who determines, exam-
ines, ‘and settles the business and lawsuits of the nation
and of the common people, as it were washing them with
water; in the company and presence of this god the
generous personages aforementioned always are. 0O
most clement Lord, ruler, and governor, thou hast done
me a great favor. Perhaps it has been through the in-
tercession and through the tears shed by the departed
lords and ladies that had charge of this kingdom.” It
would be great madness to suppose that for any merit
or courage of mine thou hast favored me, setting me
over this your kingdom, the government of which is

4 * Los ot sefiores y sefioras qua tuvieron cargo de éste reino.’ Saha-
gun, Hist. tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 71.

in e

PRAYER OF A RULER. 227

something very heavy, difficult, and even fearful; it is
as a huge burden, carried on the shoulders, and one that
with great difficulty the past rulers bore, ruling in thy
name. O our Lord, most clement, invisible, and impal-
pable, ruler and governor, creator and knower of all
things and thoughts, beautifier of thy creatures,” what
shall I say more, poor me? In what wise have I to
rule and govern this thy state, or how have I to
carry this burden of the common people? I who
am blind and deaf, who do not even know myself, nor
know how to rule over myself. I am accustomed to
walk in filth, my faculties fit me for seeking and selling
edible herbs, and for carrying and selling wood. What
I deserve, O Lord, is blindness for mine eyes and
shriveling and rotting for my limbs, and to go dressed
in rags and tatters; this is what I deserve and what
ought to be given me. It is I that need to be ruled and
to be carried on some one’s back. Thou hast many
friends and acquaintances that may be trusted with this
load. Since, however, thou has already determined to
set me up for a scoff and « jeer to the world, let thy will
be done and thy word fulfilled. Peradventure thou
knowest not who I am; and, after having known me,
wilt seek another and take the government from me;
taking it again to thyself, hiding again in thyself this
dignity and honor, being already angry and weary of
bearing with me; and thou wilt give the government to
another, to some close friend and acquaintance of thine,
to some one very devout toward thee, that weeps and
sighs and so merits this dignity. Or, peradventure,
this thing that happened to me is a dream, or a
walking in sleep. O Lord, thou that art present
in every place, that knowest all thoughts, that dis-
tributest all gifts, be pleased not to hide from me thy
words and thine inspiration. I do not know the road I
have to follow, nor what I have to do, deign then not

55 * Adornador de las criaturas:’ Sa. n, in Kingsborough's Mex. Ant
Hig Ys, . 877, ‘ Adornador de las almas.’ Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii.,
ae

228 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

to hide from me the light and the mirrer that have to
guide me. Do not allow me to cause those I have to
rule and carry on my shoulders to lose the road and to
wander over rocks and mountains. Do not allow me to
guide them in the tracks of rabbits and deer. Do not
permit, O Lord, any war to be raised against me, nor
any pestilence to come upon those I govern; for I should
not know, in such a case, what to do, nor where to take
those I have upon my shoulders; alas for me, that am
incapable and ignorant. I would not that any sickness
come upon me, for in that case thy nation and people
would be lost, and thy kingdom desolated and given up
to darkness, What shall I do, O Lord and creator, if
by chance I fall into some disgraceful fleshly sin, and
thereby ruin the kingdom? what do if by negligence or
sloth [ undo my subjects? what do if through my fault I
hurl down a precipice those I have to rule? Our Lord,
most clement, invisible and impalpable, I entreat thee
not to separate thyself from me; visit me often; visit
this poor house, for I will be waiting for thee therein.
With great thirst I await thee and demand urgently
thy word and inspiration, which thou didst breathe into
thine ancient friends and acquaintances that have ruled
with diligence and rectitude over thy kingdom. This is
thy throne and honor, on either side whereof are seated
thy senators and principal men, who are as thine image
and very person. They give sentence and speak on the
affairs of the state in thy name; thou usest them as
thy flutes, speaking from within them and placing thy-
self in their faces and ears, opening their mouths so that
they may speak well. In this place the merchants mock
and jest at our follies, with which merchants thou art
spending thy leisure, since they are thy friends and ac-
quaintances; there also thou inspirest and breathest upon
thy devoted ones, who weep and sigh in thy presence,
sincerely giving thee their heart.” Kor this reason thou

% The precise force of much of this sentence it is hard to understand. It
reems to show, at any rate, that the merchants were supposed to be very
intimate with and especially favored by this deity, The original runs as
follows: ‘En este lugar burlan y rien de nuestras bober{as los negociantes,

10r
nld
uke
am
1e88
yple
| up
at
and
e or
alt I
ord,
thee
visit
rein,

mage
n the
mn as
thy-
that

NCR,
thou
nd, ‘It

uns 08
banter,

PRAYER OF A RULER FOR DIRECTION. 229

adornest them with prudence and wisdom, so that they
may look as into a mirror with two faces, where every
one’s image is to be seen;™ for this thon givest them a
very clear axe, without any dimness, whose brightness
flashes into all places. For this cause also thou givest
them gifts and precious jewels, hanging them from their
necks and ears, even like material ornaments such as are
the nacochtl, the tentetl, the tlapiloni or head-tassel, the
matemecatl or tanned strap that lords tie round their
wrists,” the yellow leather bound on the ankles, the
beads of gold, and the rich feathers, In this place of
the good governing and rule of thy kingdom, are merited
thy riches and glory, thy sweet and delightful things,
calmness and tranquillity, a peaceable and contented life;
all of which come from thy hand. In the same place,
lastly, are also merited the adverse and wearisome things,
sickness, poverty, and the shortness of life; which things
are sent by thee to those that in this condition do not
fulfill their duty. O our Lord, most clement, knower of
thoughts and giver of gifts, is it in my hand, that am a
mean man, to know how to rule? is the manner of my
life in my hand, and the works that [ have to do in my
office? which indeed is of thy kingdom and dignity and
not sine. What thou mayest wish me to do and what
may be thy will and disposition, thou aiding me I will
do. The road thou mayest show me I will walk in;
that thou mayest inspire me with, and put in my
heart, that I will say and speak. O our Lord, most
clement, in thy hand I wholly place myself, for it is not
possible for me to direct or govern myself; [ am blind,

darkness, a dung-hill, See good, O Lord, 'to give me a

con los quales estais vos holgandoos, porque son vuestros amigos y vuestros
conocidos, y Alli inspirais é insuflais & vuestros devotor, que Horan y suspi-
nin en vuestra presencia y os dan de verdad su corazon,’ Sahagun, Hist, Gen,
tom. ii, lib, vi, p. 73,

7 Para que ven como en ex ejo de dos hazes, donde se representa la
imigen de cada uno’, Sahagun, Hist, Gen, tom. ii, lib, vi,, p. 73.

8 Nasoehtli, orejotos {earrings} Tenteli, begoie ‘de indio [lip-ornament):
Molina, Vocabulario, Molina gives also Matemecatl to mean, a gold bracelet
or somethin of that kind; Bustamante translates the word in the same way,
exphiiring that the strap mentioned in tho text was used to tie the bracelet
on, Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. ii., lib, vi,, p. 74,

230 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

little light, though it be only as much as a fire-fly gives
out, going about at night; to light me in this dream, in
this life asleep that endures as for a day; where are
many things to stumble at, many things to give occasion
for laughing at one, many things like a rugged road that
has to be gone over by leaps. All this has to happen in
the position thou hast put me in, giving me thy seat and
dignity. O Lord, most clement, [ entreat thee to visit
me with thy light, that I may not err, that | may not
undo myself, that my vassals may not crv out against
me. O our Lord, most pitiful, thou hast made me now
the back-piece” of thy chair, also thy flute; all without
any merit of mine. Iam thy mouth, thy face, thine
ears, thy teeth, and thy nails. Although I am a mean man
I desire to say that | unworthily represent thy person,
and thine image, that the words I shall speak have to
be esteemed as thine, that my face has to be held as
thine, mine eyes as thive, and the punishment that J
shall inflict as if thou hadst inflicted it. For all this
I entreat thee to put thy spirit within me, and thy words,

so that all may obey them and none contradict.”

Now with regard to the measure of the genuineness of
the prayers to Tezcatlipoca, just given, it seems evident

that either with or without the conscious connivance of

Father Bernardino de Sahagun, their historian, a certain
?

amount of sophistication and adaptation to Christian
ideas has crept into them; it appears to be just as evi-
dent, however, on the other hand, that they contain a
great deal that is original, indigenous, and characteristic
in regard to the Mexican religion, At any rate they
purport to do so, and as evidence bearing on the matter,
presented by a hearer and eye-witness at first hand, by
59‘ Espaldar de vuestra silla,’ Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom, ii, lib. vi., p. 75.

@ ‘He that delivered this prayer before Tezcatlipoca, stood on his feet,
his feet close together, bending himself towards the earth, Those that were
very devout were naked, Before they begun tho prayer they offered copal to
the tlre, or some other sacrifice, and if they were covered with a blanket, they
ulled the knot of it round to the breast, so tha: they were naked in front.

Some spoke this prayer squatting on their calves, and kept the knot of the
blanket on the shoulder ' Sahagun Hist, Gen, tom, ii, lib, vi, p. 75.

writer
by wit
worth,
are wa
in the
tion, 1
the tru
prolog
prelate
useful
these
taught
languay
which }
in the ]
coco,
Bot tog
Was call
enced it
They b
prayed |
night ©
propose
their an
on anotl
together
they che
these Ty
I should
to whom

‘

GENUINENESS OF THE FOREGOING PRAYERS. 231

a man of strongly authenticated probity, learning, and
above all, of strong sympathy with the Mexican people,
beloved and trusted by those of them with whom he
came in contact, and admitted to the familiarity of a
friend with their traditions and habits of thought,—for

all these rexsons his evidence, however we may esteem
it, must be heard and judged.”

6! Father Bernardino de Sahagun, a Spanish Franciscan, was one of the
first preachers sent to Mexico; where he was much employed in the in-
struction of the native youth, working for the most part in the province of
Tezcuco. While there, in the city of Tepeopulco, in the latter part of the
sixteenth century, he began the work, best known to us as the J/istoria
General de las Cosas de Nueva Espavia, from which the above ‘prayers have
been translated, and from which we shall draw largely for further informa-
tion, It would be hard to imagine a work of such a character constructed
after a better fashion of working than his. Gathering the principal natives of
the town in which he carried on his labors, he induced them to appoint him
anumber of persons, the most learned and experienced in the things of which
he wished to write. These learned Mexicans being collected, Father Saha-
gun was accustomed to get them to paint down in their native fashion the
various legends, details of history and mythology, and so on that he wanted; at
the foot of the said pictures these learned Mexicans wrote out the explanations
of the same in the Mexican tongue; and this explanation the Father Saha-
gun translated into Spanish; that translation purports to be what we now
read as the Historia General. Here follows a trans.ation of the Prologo of
his work, in which he describes all the foregoing in his own way: ‘All
writers labor the best that they can to make their works authoritative; some
by witnesses worthy of faith, others by the writings of previous writers held
worthy of belief, others by the testimony of the Sacred Scriptures, ‘To me
are wanting oll these foundations to make authoritative what I have written
in these twelve books [of the Historia General], I have no other founda-
tion, but to set down here the relation of the diligence that I made to know
the truth of all that is written in these twelve books, As I have said in other
prologues to this work, I was commanded in all ply obedience by my chicf
prelate to write in the Mexican language that which appeared to me to be
useful for the doctrine, worship, and maintenance of Christianity among
these natives of New Spain, and forthe aid of the workers and ministers that
taught them. Having received this commandment, I made in the Spanish
language a minute or memorandum of all the matters that I had to treat of,
which matters are what is written in the twelve books,....which were begun
in the pueblo of 'Tepeopulco, which is in the province of Culhuacin or Tez-
coco, ‘The work was done in the following way. In the aforesaid pueblo, I
got together all the principal men, together with the lord of the place, who
was called Don Diego de Mendoza, of great distinction and ability, well experi-
enced in things ecclesiastic, military, political, and even relating to idolatry.
They being come together, I set before them what I proposed to do, and
prayed them to appoint me able and experienced persons, with whom I
Might converse and come to an understanding on ation questions as I might
propose, They answered me that they would talk the matter over and give
their answer on another day; and with this they took their departure, So
on another day the lord and his principal men came, and having conferred
together with great solemnity, as they were accustomed at that time to do,
they chose out ten or twelve of the principal old men, and told me that with
these I might communicate and that these would instruct me in any matters
I should inquire of, Of these there were as many as four instructed in Latin,
to whom I, some few years befure, had myself taught grammar in the college

232 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

of Santa Cruz, in Tlaltelolco, With these appointed principal men, includ-
ing the four instructed in grammar, I talked many days during about two
years, following the order of the minrte I had already made out. On all the
subjects on which we conferred they gave me pictures,—which were the
writings anciently in use among them,—and these the grammarians inter-
preted to me in their language, writing the interpretation at the foot of
the picture. Even to this day I hold the originals of these... When I went
to the chapter, with which was ended the seven years’ term of Fray Francis-
co Toral—he that had imposed the charge of this work upon me—I was re-
moved from Tepeopulco, carrying all my writings. I went to reside at Sant-
iago del Tlaltelolco. There I brought together the principal men, set before
them the matter of my writings, and asked them to appoint me some able

rincipal men, with whom I might examine and talk over the writings I had

rought from 'Tepeopulco. The governor, with the alcaldes, appointed me
as many as eight or ten principal men, selected from all the most able in their
language, and in the things of their antiquities. With these and with four
or five collegians, all trilinguists, and living for the space of a year or more
secluded in the college, all that had been brought written from Tepeopulco
was clearly emended and added to; and the whole was rewritten in small
letters, for it was written with much haste. In this scrutiny or examination,
he that worked the hardest of all the collegians was Martin Jacobita, who
was then rector of the college, an inhabitant of the ward of Santa Ana. I,
having done all as above said in Tlaltelolco, went, taking with me all my
writings, to reside in San Francisco de México, where, by myself, for the space
of three years, I examined over and over again the writings, emended them,
divided them into twelve books, and each book into chapters and paragraphs.
After this, Father Miguel Navarro being provincial, and Father Diego de
Mendoza commissary-general in Mexico, with their favor I had all the
twelve books clearly copied in a good hand, as also the Postilla and the Can-
tdres [which were other works on which Sahagun was engaged]. I made
out also an Art of the Mexican language with a vocabulary-appendix. Now
the Mexicans added to and emended my twelve books [of the Jistoria Gene-
ral] in many things while they were being copied out in full; so that the first
sieve through which my work passed was that of Tepeopulco, the second
that of 'Tlaltelolco, the third that of Mexico; and in all these scrutinies collegi-
ate grammarians had been employed. The chief and most learned was An-
tonio Valerianc, a resident of Aztcapuzalco; another, little less than the first,
was Alonso Vegerano, resident of Cuauhtitlan; another was Martin Jacobita,
above mentioned; another Pedro de Santa Buenaventura, resident of Cuauh-
titlan; all expert in three languages, Latin, Spanish, and Indian [ Mexican].
'Yhe scribes that made out the clear copies of all the works are Diego
Degrado, resident of the ward of San Martin, Mateo Severino, resident of Xo-
chimileo, of the part of Ull4e. The clear copy being fully made out, by the
favor of the fathers above mentioned and the expenditure of hard cash on the
scribes, the author thereof asked of the delegate Father Francisco de Rivera
that the work be submitted to three or four religions, so that they might give
an opinion on it, and that in the provincial chapter, which was close at hand,
they might attend and report on the matter to the assembly, speaking as
the thing might appeartothem, And these reported in the assembly that
the writings were of much value and deserved such support as was necessary
toward their completion, But to some of the assembly it seemed that it
was contrary to their vows of poverty to spend money in copying these writ-
ings; so they commanded the author to dismiss his scribes, and that he
alone with his own hand should do what copying he wanted done; but as he
was more than seventy years old, and for the trembling of his hand not able
to write anything, nor able to procure a dispensation from this mandate,
there was nothing done with the writings for more than five years, During
this interval, and at the next chapter, Father Miguel Navarro was elected
by the general chapter for custos custodium, and Father Alonso de Escalona,
for provincial, During this time the author made a summary of all the
books and of all the chapters of each book, and prologues, wherein was said

duccic
after
ther B
of Sals
vince [
Rodrig
that co
very ob
lencia |
many ti
tendane
He was
elected |
Tlaltelo)
on a ca
of the )
eing eq
eatalogn
It did n
ancient y
Watched
impress
ter of mu
province
Inclined {
In the bo
first twen:
vents; bu
dianship
ve whing,
16 lived in
day, he ins
reading, v
tnd the st
recoming
died on thi

saw and wi
them into

might be sent to §
president of the © ‘i dies, had
them by reason of the summary that t

carried to Spain, as above said,
work has been examine
has

i,
which he says:
and the vocabulary-appendix were finished
but not translated into Spanish,’ Sahaqun,
he follo hnty skete
16 Menealsyio Sey
» Native of
3 0 student of th
Jin the year 1529, in th

hat corresp:
very obsery
lencia held
dup
olr, @
» hunble,
Y With the le;
the college o
on & candlestics, fop he was perfect i
of the Mexican language was of
being equaled; he y
Catilogue of authors,
it did not Beem pv
aneiont rites, le uld give
Watched over the honor of Gor
impress the Christian faith upc
ter of much ex verienee, that during the
Province] the Jarvor of the natives was
Inclined to idolatry, and became very luke
in the hook of hig Postillas that I have,
first tw. 8 iife Cin the proving
fter that he desired not to take
' more than forty years, 80 th
nfessing, and Writing,
® province, for the most l
toted the boys in civilizat
writing, Brammar, musie
state, "This wont on till t

yy
lace

8 to

P. iii. vii,

0 of Father

took the ro

ity. He Passed into thig pro-
er Antonio de Ciudad

was
Va-
him

He was
professor at
like a light
His

‘ars [of his i
it that af
La AD

» When, the

ecoming apparent to eve

» hospital of
died on the 23rd of Octob

d to his funeral th

234 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

trailing their becas, and the natives shedding tears, and the members of the
different religious houses giving praises to God our Lord for this holy death,
of which the martyrology treats,—Gonzaga, Torquemada, Deza, Rampineo,
and many others. In the library of Sefior Eguiava, in the manuscript of the
Turriana collection, I have read the article relating to Father Sahagun; in it
a large catalogue of works that he wrote is given. 1 remember only the fol-
lowing: Historia General de las cosas de Nueva Espatia; Arte de gromctica
mexicana; Diccionario trilingue de espariol, latin, y mexicano; Sermons
ara todo el avo en mexicano, (poséo aunque sin nombre de autor); Postil-
las 6 commentarios al evangelio, para las misas solemnes de dia de precepto;
Historia de los primeros pobladores fran 'scanos en Mewico; Salmodia de la
vida de Cristo, de la virgen y de los santos, que usaltan los indios, y precep-
tos para los cisados; Escala espiritual, que fué la primera obra que se im-
primié en Mexico en la imprenta que trajo Hernan Cortés de Espatia.’ Saha-
gun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., pp. vii.-ix. As to the manner in which the Iis-
toria General of Sahagun, ‘whom,’ says Prescott, MJex., vol. i., p. 67,
‘I have followed as the highest authority’ in matters of Mexican re-
Faget last saw the light of publication, I give Prescott’s account,
Mex., vol. i., p. 88, as exact save in one point, for which see the correction
in brackets:—‘ At length, toward the close of the last century, the indefati-
gable Muiioz succeeded in disinterring the long lost manuscript from the
place tradition had assigned to it,—the library of a convent at Tolosa, in Na-
vatre, the northern extremity of Spain. With his usual ardor, he transcribed
the whole work with his own hands, and added it to the inestimable collec-
tion, of which, alas! he was destined not to reap the full benefit himself.
From this transcript Lord Kings)orough was enabled to procure the copy
which was published in 1830, in the sixth volume of his magnificent compila-
tion. [1t was published in two parts, in the fifth and seventh volumes of that
compilation, and the exact date of the publication was 1831.] Init he expresses
an honest satisfaction at being the first to give Sahagun’s work to the world,
But in this supposition he was mistaken, ‘The very year preceding, an edition
of it, with annotations, appeared in Mexico, in three volumes 8vo. It was
prepared by Bustamante,—a scholar to whose editorial activity his country
1s largely indebted,—from a copy of the Mufoz manuscript which came into
his possession, Thus this remarkable work, which was denied the honors
of the press during the author’s lifetime, after passing into oblivion, reap-
peared, at the distance of nearly three centuries, not in his own country, but
in foreign lands widely remote from each other, and that almost simultane-
ously... .Sahagun divided his history into twelve books. The first eleven
are occupied with the social institutions of Mexico, and the last with the
Conquest. On the religion of the country he is particularly full, His great
object evidently was, to give a clear view of its mythology, and of the bur-
densome ritual which belonged to it. Religion entered so intimately into
the most private concerns and usages of the Aztecs, that Suhagun’s work
must be a text-book for every student of their antiquities, ‘Torquemada
availed himself of a manuscript copy, which fell into his hands before it was
sent to Spain, to enrich his own pages,--a circumstance more fortunate for
his readers than for Sahagun’s reputation, whose work, now that it is pub-
lished, loses much of the originality and interest which would otherwise
attach to it, In one respect it is invaluable; as presenting a complete col-
lection of the various forms of prayer, accommodated to every possivle emer.
ency, in use by the Mexicans, They are often clothed in dignified and
eautiful language, showing that sublime speculative tenets are quite com-
patible with the most degrading practices of superstition, It is much t. be
regretted that we have not the eighteen hymns, inserted by the author in his
book, which would have particular interest, as the only specimen of deyo-
tional poetry preserved of the Aztecs. The hieroglyphical paintings, which
accompanied the text are also missing. If they have escaped the hands of
fanaticism, both may reappear at some future day.’ As may have been
noticed, the editions of Sahagun by both Bustamante and Kingsborough have
been constantly used together and collated during the course of this present

imm
tam:
corre
by tl
unde
de M
Juan
quay;
el equi
mean
comp!
to the
histor
book,’
extrao
Suppos
miracu
a apar
acecoun
Seviora
Wrote
heads 0
despoile
away in
80 that 1
than two
Missione
Without
Ignorant
cana he ¢
power,
>,
ines ha
Veytia, tl
ry oPy 4
these twy
to bo golel
not appea

fo rraph his
left witho

ADULTERATION OF THE SAHA

work, They differ,
mante’s being the
however,

especially in man
more careless i

00k xii. of that
edition, ig sp

’

aurdinary title of Le

robada con

seritop,
ser la unica
Bustamante,
Sahagun’s Hf}
cript he could th
t genuine, has fo
» publishes

m of
est Manus
to L

ssed Vir
Guadalup
ing trar
PP. iv., viii,, xxiii.
Wrote with the frankness Proper to trutl
leads of the then Bovernment, nor even tc
despoiled of his Writings These we
away in the archives of the cony
80 that no one should ever
than two centuries, Duriy
Missioned to Write th
Without this work [of
ignorant of its wheven
cana he came
OWers, he

b
y

miraculous a
’ aparicion ¢
ace for
Guadalupe,

ny

ead
eign of
the N

two thick

to copy the
These two volumes, ther

to be go ely the wor
ory,

osrant Had it}
\ nu

torraph hist
left Without definite me

islated
» TUDS as follows;
and as this w;

them;
aT

C

GUN Mss,

» Busta:
ving a
resting,
0) what ig

other; and ind

la publ
*ho autor
ady published i
i - ordin
book of that
said twelfth
er the alove

» to wit, the

ive Mexican,
Bustamante ’s own
above-menti:

‘A

e de Mexico,

from the

0 de To
ther

J Was com-

1 hin wolf

urpose; and ws

Biblioteca Francig.

te Government with all

Colonel D, Diego Gareta

ublish the Works of Seiior

with Muiioz Who allowed him
Mgun’s work was writt

ad co died, wi

reunstance
n the relation y

236 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

which the book was got hold of, and when the guarantee of the exactness of
the copy was procured. I, to-day, possess an original manuscript, written
altogether and signed by the hand of Father Sahagun; in which is to be
noted an essential variation in certain of the chapters which I now present,
from those that I before published in the twelfth book of his Historia Gene-
ral; which is the book treating; of the Conquest. Sahagun wrote this manu-
“script in the year 1585, that is to say, five years before his death, and he
wrote it without doubt under a presentiment of the alterations that his work
would suffer. He had already made alterations therein himself, since he
confesses (they are his words) that certain defects existed in them, that certain
things had been put into the narrative of that Conquest that should not have
been put there, while other things were left out that should not have been
omitted. Therefore (says Bustamante], this autograph manuscript discovers
the alterations that his writings underwent and gives us good reason to doubt
the authenticity and exactness of the text seen by Muiioz....During the re-
volution of Madrid, in May, 1808, caused by the entrance of the French and
the removal of the royal family to Bayonne, the office of the secretary of the
Academy of History was robbed, and from it were taken various bundles of
the works of Father Sahagun. These an old lawyer of the court bought, and
among them one entitled: Relacion de la conquista de esta Nueva 7a, como
la contaron los soldados indios que se hallaron presentes. Convertidse en lengua
espariola lana é inteligible y bien enmendada en este afio de 1585. Unfortu-
nately there had only remained [of the Relacion, etc., (?)] a single volume
of manuscript, which Sefior D. José Gomez de la Cortina, ex-count of that
title, bought, giving therefor the sum of a hundred dollars. He allowed
me the use of it, and I have made an exact copy of it, adding notes
for the better understanding of the Conquest; the before-mentioned
being altogether written, as I have said, and signed by the hands of
Father Sahagun. This portion, which the said ex-count has certified to,
induces us to believe that the other works of Sahagun, relating both to
the Conquest and to the Aparicion Guadalupana have been adulterated
because they did little honor to the first Conquerors. That they have at
all come to be discussed with posterity, has been because a knowledge of
them was generally scattered, and in such a way that it was no longer possi-
ble to keep them hidden; or, perhaps, because the faction interested in their
concealment had disappeared. In proof of the authenticity and identity of
this manuscript, we refer to Father Betancur in his Chronicle of the pro-
vince of the Santo Evangelio de México, making a catalogue of the illustri-
ous men thereof; speaking of Sahagun, he says on page 138: ‘‘ The ninth
book that this writer composed was the Conquest of Mexico by Cortés;
which book afterward, in the year 1585, he re-wrote and emended; the
penienten original of this I saw signed with his hand in the possssion of Sefior

. Juan Francisco de Montemayor, president of the Royal Audiencia, who
carried it toSpain with the intention of having it printed; and of this I have
a translation wherein it is said that the Marquis of Villa-Manrique, viceroy
of Mexico, took from him (Sahagun ] the twelve books and sent them to his
majesty for the royal chronicler.””’ Bustamante lastly gives a certificate of
the authenticity of the manuscript under discussion and published by him.
The certificate is signed by José Gomez de la Cortina, and runs as follows:
‘Mexico, Ist April, 1840. I certify that, being in Madrid in the year 1828, I
bought from D. Lorenzo Ruiz de Artieda, through the agency of my friend
and companion, D. José Musso Valiente, member of the Spanish Academies
of language and of history, the original manuscript of Father Sahagun, of
which mention is made in this work by his Excellency Sefior D. Carlos Maria
Bustamante, as constated by the receipts of the seller, and by other docu-
ments in my possession,’ So much for Bustamante’s new position as 4
redéditor of a part of Sahagun’s J/istoria General; we have stated it in his
own words, and in those of his own witnesses as brought forward by him, The
changes referred to do not involve any matter ee mythology; it may
be not out of place to say however, that the evidence in favor of Bustamante’s
new views seems strong and truth-like,

CHAPTER VII.

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Imacr or TezcatireocA—-His Srats aT THE STREET-CORNERS — VARIOUS
LEGENDS ABOUT HIS Lire oN EantH—QUETZALCOATL—H1s DExTERITY IN
THE MEcHANICAL ArnTs—-His Reuraious OsservANCES—THE WEALTH
AND NIMBLENESss OF HIS ADHERENTS—EXPULSION FROM TULLA OF QUET-
ZALCOATL BY TEZCATLIPOCA AND HurrziLopocuTLi—TH#E Macic DraucHt
—Huemac, on Vemac, Kine or tHe To.tecs, AND THE MISFORTUNES
BROUGHT UPON HIM AND HIS PEOPLE BY TEZCATLIPOCA IN VARIOUS
DISGUISES — QUETZALCOATL IN CHOLULA—DIFFERING ACCOUNTS OF THE
BretH anD Lirg or Querzancoatt—His GENTLE CHARACTER—HE DREW
up THE Mexican CaLENDAR--INCIDENTS OF HIS EXILE AND OF HIS JouR-
NEY TO TLAPALLA, AS RELATED AND COMMENTED UPON BY VARIOUS WRIT-
ERS—BRASSEUR’S IDEAS ABOUT THE QUETZALCOATL MytHs—QUETZALCOATL
CONSIDERED A Sun-Gop By TyLor, AND a8 A Dawn-HEno By Brinton—
Hetes—Domentcu--Tue Coprces—Lona Discussion oF THE QUETZAL-
coat Myrus sy J. G, Mixxer,

In the preceding chapter I have given only the loftier
view of ‘lezcatlipoca’s nature, which even on this side
cannot be illustrated without many inconsistencies. We
pass now to relations evidencing a much meaner idea
of his character, and showing him whom we have seen
called invisible, almighty, and beneficent, in a new and
much less imposing light. We pass, in fact, from the
Zeus of Plato and Socrates to the Zeus of Hesiod and
Homer.

Let us glance first at the fashion of his representation in
the temples, though with little hope of seeing the particular
fitness of many of the trappings and symbols with which
his statue was decorated. His principal image, at least

(287)

238 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

in the city of Mexico, was cut out of a very shining black
stone, called itzli, a variety of obsidian,—a stone valued,
in consideration of its capabilities of cleavage, for making
those long splinters, used as knives by the Aztecs, for
sacrificial and other purposes. For these uses in wor-
ship, and perhaps indeed for its manifold uses in all re-
gards, it was surnamed feote(l, divine stone. In places
where stone was less convenient the image was made of
wood. ‘The general idea intended to be given was that
of a young man; by which the immortality of the god
was set forth. The ears of the idol were bright with ear-
rings of gold and silver. Through his lower lip was
thrust a little crystal tube, perhaps six inches long, and
through the hollow of this tube a feather was drawn;
sometimes a green feather, sometimes a blue, giving the
transparent ornament the tint at one time of an eme-
rald, at another of a turquois. The hair—carved from
the stone, we may suppose—was drawn into a queue and
bound with a ribbon of burnished gold, to the end of
which ribbon, hanging down behind, was attached a
golden ear with certain tongues of ascending smoke
painted thereon; which smoke was intended to signify
the prayers of those sinners and afflicted that, commend-
ing themselves to the god, were heard by him. Upon
his head were many plumes of red and green feathers.
From his neck there hung down in front a great jewel of
gold that covered all his breast. Bracelets of gold were
upon his arms, and in his navel was set a precious green
stone. In his left hand fhere flashed a great circular
mirror of gold, bordered like a fan with precious feathers,
green and azure and yellow; the eyes of the god were
ever fixed on this, for therein he saw reflected all that
was done in the world. This mirror was called ilachia,
that is to say, the ‘looker-on,’ the ‘viewer.’ Tezcatlipoca
was sometimes seated on a bench covered with a red
cloth, worked with the likeness of many skulls, having
in hisright hand four darts, signifying, according to some,
that he punished sin. To the top of his feet were at-
tached twenty bells of gold, and to his right foot the fore-

foot
deit
was ¢
ador
three
decor
tions
amon}
places
to h
a da
colors
seated
overhe
altar o
Christi
of holi
Wh
the wor
were th
for the
visibly ¢
on; not
they we
canopy -
days,!
Lower
of an al
legends j
creditab]
as One uf
instrume:
he then
ward de

,, | Acosta,
a a Dur
to Palacio, 0
242; Kxplica
borough's Me:
Mexicano, tay
® See this

WORSHIP OF TEZCATLIPOCA. 239

foot of a deer, to show the exceeding swiftness of this
deity in all his ways. Hiding the shining black body,
was a great cloak, curiously wrought in black and white,
adorned with feathers, and fringed about with rosettes of
three colors, red, white, and black. This god, whose
decorations vary a little with different writers——varia-
tions probably not greater than those really existing
among the different figures representing in different
places the same deity—-had a kind of chapel built
to hold him on the top of his temple. It was
a dark chamber lined with rich cloths of many
colors; and from its obscurity the image looked out,
seated on a pedestal, with a costly canopy immediately
overhead, and an altar in front; not apparently an
altar of sacrifice, but a kind of ornamental table, like a
Christian altar, covered with rich cloth. Into this holy
of holies it was not lawful for any but a priest to enter.

What most of all, however, must have served to bring
the worship of Tezcatlipoca prominently before the people,
were the seats of stone, built at the corners of the streets,
for the accommodation of this god when he walked in-
visibly abroad. Mortal, born of woman, never sat there-
on; not the king himself might dare to use them: sacred
they were, sacred for ever, and always shadowed by a
canopy of green boughs, reverently renewed every five
days.’

Lower and lower we must now descend from the idea
of an almighty god, to take up the thread of various
legends in which Tezcatlipoca figures in an anything but
creditable light. We have already seen him described
as one uf those hero-gods whom the new-born Sun was
instrumental in destroying ;? and we may suppose that
he then ascended into heaven, for we find him after-
ward descending thence, letting himself down by a

! Acosta, Hist, Nat. Ind., pp. 353-4; Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Messico, tom,
ii, Bi Duran, Hist, Ant. de la Nueva Espana, MS8,, quoted in Squier’s Notes
to Palacio, Carta, note 27, pp. 117-8; Sahagun, Ilist, Gen,, tom. i., lib. iii., p.
242; Hxplicacion del Codex Telleriano-Remensis, lam, ii. and xxvi., in Kings-
borough's Mex, Antiq., vol. v., pp. 182, 144-5; Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice

Mexicano, tav, xlii., xlix.,in Kingsborough’s Mex. Antig., vol. v., pp. 185, 188,
* See this volume p. 62,

240 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

rope twined from spider's web. Rambling through the
world he came toa place called Tulla, where a certain
Quetzalcoatl—another, according to Sahagun, of the hero-
gods just referred to-—-had been ruling for many years.
The two engaged in a game of ball, in the course of
which Tezcatlipoca suddenly transformed himself into a
tiger, occasioning thereby a tremendous panic among the
spectators, many of whom in the haste of their flight
recipitated themselves down a ravine in the neighbor-
ood into a river and were drowned. ‘Tezcatlipoca then
began to persecute Quetzalcoatl from city to city till he
drove him to Cholula. Here Quetzalcoatl was held as
chief god, and here for some time he wassafe. But only
for a few years; his indefatigable and powerful enemy
forced him to retreat with a few of his adherents toward
the sea, to a place called Tlillapa or Tizapan. Here the
hunted Quetzalcoatl died, and his followers inaugurated
the custom of burning the dead by burning his body.°
The foregoing, from Mendieta, gives us a glimpse, from
one point of view, of that great personage Quetzalcoatl,
of whom we shall know much more anon, and whom in
the meantime we meet again and again as the opponent,
or rather victim of Tezcatlipoca. Let us consider Saha-
gun’s version of the incidents of this strife:—
Quetzalcoatl was, from very ancient times, adored as a
god in Tulla. He had a very high cu‘ there, with many
steps up to it, steps so narrow that there was not room
for a whole foot on any of them. His image was always
in a recumbent position and covered with blankets.
The face of it was very ugly, the head large and fur-
nished with along beard. The adherents of this god were
all devoted to the mechanical arts, dexterous in working
the green stone called chalchiuite, and in founding the
precious metals; all of which arts had their beginning and
origin with the said Quetzalcoatl. He had whole houses
made of chalchiuites, others made of silver, ot!
white and red shells, others of planks, others of tur

3 Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., p. 82.
«Temple; see this vol., p. 192, note 26,

and
ligh \
and
mou
to he
and
heard
zalca
he ha ’
Was an
carry
round
thick t
sowed ¢
let, whi
these C4
F urther
abound:
plumage
tlauhquec
less.
world, o
ultes, ant
of cocoa-
herents ¢
for nothi:
maize, nc
wood to }
coatl did -
with the
night in
Priests an
here ¢
Quetzaleos
for there c
guise, to wi

Vol. vii., p,
Vou, |

5 Or perha
p. 1

242 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

who wrought many deceitsin Tulla. Tezcatlipoca especi-
ally prepared a cunning trick; he turned himself into a
hoary-headed old man, and went to the house of Quet-
zalcoatl, saying to the servants there, I wish to see and
speak to your ruaster. Then the servaiits said, Go uway,
old man, thou canst not see our king, for he is sick, thou
wilt annoy him and cause him heaviness. But Tezcatli-
poca insisted, I must see him. Then the servants bid
the sorcerer to wait, and they went in and told Quetzal-
coatl how an old man without affirmed that he would
see the king and would not be denied. And Quetzal-
coatl answered, Let him come in, behold for many days I
have waited for his coming. So Tezcatlipoca entered,
and he said to the sick god-king, How art thou? adding
further that he had a medicine for him to drink. Then
Quetzalcoatl answered, Thou art welcome, old man, be-
hold for many days I have waited for thee. And the
old sorcerer spake again, How is thy body, and how art
thou in health? I am exceedingly sick, said Quetzalcoatl,
all my body is in pain, I cannot move my hands nor my
feet. Then, answered Tezcatlipoca, behold this medicine
that I have, it is good and wholesome and intoxicating;
if thou will drink it, thou shalt be intoxicated and healed
and eased at the heart, and thou shalt have in mind the
toils and fatigues of death and of thy departure.6 Where,
cried Quetzalcoatl, have I to go? To Tullantlapallan, re-
lied ‘Tezcatlipoca, where there is another old man wait-
ing for thee; he and thou shall talk together, and on thy
return thence thou shalt be as a youth, yea, as a boy.
And Quetzalcoatl hearing these words his heart was
raoved, while the old sorcerer, insisting more and more,
said, Sir, drink this medicine. But the king did not wish
to drink it. The sorcerer, however, insisted, Drink, my
lord, or thou wilt be sorry for it hereafter; nt least rub
a little on thy brow and taste a sip. So Quetzalcoutl
tried and tasted it, and drank, saying, What is this? it
¢ ¥ acordarseos h& de los trabajor y tatigas de la muerte, 6 de vuestia ida,
yh's Mee, Antl.,, vol, vil., p. 109. Y xcordarseos ha los trabajos y

af
fatigas de la muerte, 6 de vuestra vida, Sahagun, ilist, Gen., tom. i., lib, ili,
pp. f

chilly
overlac
ter, an
and se
throug!
Vemac
women
They t
peddler
down. t
the mot
Toltecs,
green fy
people s
der; bu
could n
day, at
brought
thou bel

TEZCATLIPOOA AS A PEDDLER. 243

seems to be a thing very good and savory; already I

feel myself healed and quit of mine infirmity; already I

am well. Then the old sorcerer said again, Drink once
more, my lord, since it is good; so thou shall be the
more perfectly healed. And Quetzalcoatl drank again,
he made himself drunk, he began to weep sadly, his heart
was eased and moved to depart, he could not rid himself
of the thought that he must go; for this was the snare
and deceit of Tezcatlipoca. And the medicine that Quet-
zalcoatl drank was the white wine of the country, made
from the magueys that are called ¢ewmedl.

So Quetzalcoatl, whose fortunes we shall hereafter fol-
low more particularly, set out upon his journey; and Tez-
catlipoca proceeded further guilefully to kill many Toltecs,
and to ally himself by marriage with Vemac, who was
the temporal lord of the Toltecs, even as Quetzalcoatl was
the spiritual ruler of that people. To accomplish these
things Tezcatlipoca took the appearance of a poor for-
eigner, and presented himself naked, as was the custom
of such people, in the market-place of Tulla, selling green
chilly pepper. Now the palace of Vemac, the great king,
overlooked tire market-place, and he had an only daugh-
ter, and the girl, looking by chance among the buyers
and sellers, saw the disguised god. She was smitten
through with love of him, and she began to sicken,
Vemac heard of her sickness and he inquired of the
women that guarded her as to what ailed his daughter.
They told him as best they could, how for the love of a
peddler of pepper, named Toveyo, the princess had lain
down to die. The king immediately sent a crier upon
the mountain Tzataitepec to make this proclamation: O
Toltecs, seek me out Toveyo that goes about. selling
green pepper, let him be brought before me. So the
people sought everywhere for the handsome pepper ven-
der; but he was nowhere to be found. Then, after they
could not find him, he appeared of his own accord one
day, at his old place and trade in the market. He was
brought before the king, who said to him, Where dost
thou belong to? and Toveyo answered, I am a foreigner

244 ODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

come here to sell my green pepper. Why dost thou
delay to cover thyself with brecches and with a blanket?
arid Vemac. Toveyo answered that in his country such
things were not in fashion. Vemac continued, My
daughter longs after thee, not willing to be comforted
by any Toltec; she is sick of love and thou must heal
her. But Toveyo replied, This thing can in no wise be,
kill me first; I desire to die, not being worthy to hear
these words, who get my living by selling green pepper.
F tell thee, said the king, that thou must heal my daugh-
ter of this her sickness; fear not. Then they took the
cunning god, and washed him, and cut his hair, and dyed
al) his body, and put breeches on him and a blanket;
and the king Vemac said, Get thee in and see my dangh-
ter, there where they guard her. Then the young man
went in and he remained with the princess and she be-
came sound and well; thus Toveyo become the son-in-
law of the king of Tulla.

Then behold all the Toltecs being filled with jealousy
and offended, spake injurious and insulting. words against
king Vemac, saying among themselves, Of all the Toltecs
can there not to be found a man, that this Vemac marries
his daughter to a peddler? Now when the king heard
all the injurious and insulting words that the people
spake against him, he was moved, and he spoke to the
people saying, Come hither, behold I have heard all
these things that ye say against me in the matter of my
son-in-law Toveyo; dissimulate then; take hiin deceit-
fully with you to the war of Cacatepec and Conatepec,
let the enemy kill him there. Having enw’ these words
tive Toltecs armed themselves, and collected a multitude,
and went to the war, bringing Toveyo along. Arrived
where the fighting was to take place, they hid him with
the lame and the dwarfs, charging them, as the custom
was in such cases, to watch for the enemy, while the
soldiers went on to the attack. The battle began; the
Toltecs at once gave way; treacherousl} and guilefully
dvserting Toveyo and the cripples, leaving them to be
slaughtered at their post, they returned to Tulla and told

shal)
bie

le pu
When
and te
Let u
went (
the ar
shields
Toveya
dancin,
joicing,
plumes
all the |
the fice
that ca
Vemac |
what the
hast dea;
ease, B
And a
rich feat
to gather
the top
strangers
A numbe
were all g
girls, toa
and led th
singing enc
though th

TRIUMPH OF TEZOATLIPOCA. 45
the king how they had left Toveyo and his companions
alone in the hands of the enemy. When the king heard
the treason he was glad, thinking Toveyo dead, for he
was ashamed of having him for a son-in-law. Affairs
had gone otherwise, however, with Toveyo from what
the plotters supposed. On the approach of the hostile
army he consoled his deformed companions, saying, Fear
nothing; the enemy come against us, but | know that ]
shal! kill them all. Then he rose up and went forward
against them, against the men of Coatepec and Cacatepec;
he put them to flight and slew of them without number.
When this came to the ears of Vemac, it weighed upon
and terrified him exceedingly. He said to his Toltecs,
Let us now go and receive my son-in-law. So they all
went out with king Vemac to receive Toveyo, bearing
the arms or devises called quetzalapanecayutl, and the
shields called aiuchimali. They gave these things to
Toveyo, and he and his comrades received them with
dancing and the music of flutes, with triumph and re-
joicing. Furthermore, on reaching the palace of the king,
plumes were put upon the heads of the conquerors, and
all the body of each of them was stained yellow, and all
the face red; this was the customary reward of those
that came back victorious from war. And_ king
Vemac said to his son-in-law, I am now satisfied with
what thou hast done and the Toltecs are satisfied; thou
hast dealt very well with our enemies, rest and take thine
ease, But Toveyo held his peace.

And after this, Toveyo adorned all his body with the
rich feathers called tocivitl, and commanded the Toltecs
to gather together for a festival, and sent a crier up to
the top of the mountain, Tzatzitepec, to call in the
strangers and the peo nle afar off to dance and to feast.
A numberless multitude gathered to Tulla. When they
were all gathered Toveyo led them out, young men and
girls, to a place called Texcalapa, where he himself began
and led the dancing, playing on adrum, He sang too,
singing each verse to the dancers, who sang it after him,
though they knew not the song before hand. Then was

246 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

to be seen there a marvelous and terrible thing. From
sunset till midnight the beat of the countless feet grew
faster and faster; the tap, tap, tap of the drum closed
up and poured into a continual roll; the monotonous
song rose higher, wilder, till it burst into a roar. The
multitude became a mob, the revel a riot; the people be-
gan to press upon and hustle each other; the riot became
a panic. There was a fearful gorge or ravine there, with
a river rushing through it called the Texcaltlauhco; a
stone bridge led over the river. Toveyo broke down
this bridge as the people fled; grim corypheus of this
fearful revel, he saw them tread and crush each other
down, under-foot, and over into the abyss. They that
fell were turned into rocks and stones; as for them that
escaped, they did not see nor think that it was Toveyo
and his sorceries had wrought this great destruction;
they were blinded by the witchcraft of the god, and out
of their senses like drunken men.

Far from being satisfied with the slaughter at Texca-
lapa, Tezcatlipoca proceeded to hatch further evil against
the Toltecs. He took the appearance of a certain val-
iant man called Teguioa, and commanded acrier to sum-
mon all the inhabitants of Tulla and its neighborhvod
to come and help at a certain piece of work in a certain
flower-garden (said to have been a garden belonging to
Quetzalcoatl.). All the people gathered to the work,
whereupon the disguised god fell upon them, knocking
them on the head with a coa.'’ Those that escaped the
coa were trodden down and killed by their fellows in
attempting to escape; a countless number was slain; every
man that had come to the work was left lying dead
among the trodden flowers.

And after this Tezcatlipoca wrought another witch-
craft against the Toltecs, He called himself Tlacave-
pan, or Acexcoch, and came and sat down in the midst
of the market-place of Tulla, having a little manikin (said

7 Hoe of burnt wood. ‘Coa: palo tostado, empleado por los indios para
labrar la tierra, A manera de hazada. (Lengua de Cuba,)' Voces Americanas
Empleadas Por Oviedo, appended to Oviedo, Hist, Gen., tom, iv., p. 596.

singing
hauled
many nr
buf
unhurt |
ing anyt
drunken

Other
poca in

SSS ee

- ©

TEZCATLIPOCA DEAD. 247

to have been Huitzilopochtli) dancing upon his hand.
There was an instant uproar of all the buyers and
sellers and a rush to see the miracle. The people crushed
and trod each other down, sc that many were killed there;
and all this happened many times. At last the god-
sorcerer cried out, on one such occasion, What is this?
do you not see that you are befooled by us? stone and
kill us. So the people took up stones and killed the
said sorcerer and his little dancing manikin. But when
the body of the sorcerer had lain in the market-place for
some time it began to stink and to taint the air, and the
wind of it poisoned many. Then the dead sorcerer spake
again, saying, Cast this body outside the town, for many
Toltecs die because of it. So they prepared to cast out the
body, and fastened ropes thereto and pulled. But the
talkative and ill-smelling corpse was so heavy that they
could not move it. Then a crier made a proclamation,
saying, Come all ye Toltecs, and bring ropes with you, that
we may drag out and get rid of this pestilential carcass,
All came accordingly, bringing ropes, and the ropes were
fastened to the body, and all pulled. It was utterly in
vain. Rope after rope broke with a sudden snap, and
those that dragged on a rope fell and were killed when it
broke. Then the dead wizard looked up and said, O
Toltecs, a verse of a song is needed; and he himself gave
them a verse. They repeated the verse after him, and,
singing it, pulled all together, so that with shouts they
hauled the body out of the city; though still not without
many ropes breaking and many persons being killed as
before. All this being over, those Toltecs that remained
unhurt returned every man to his place, not remember-
ing anything of what had happened, for they were all as
drunken,

Other signs and wonders were wrought by Tezcatli-
poca in his rdle of sorcerer, A white bird called Yz-
taccuixtli, was clearly seen flying over Tulla, transfixed
with a dart. At night also, the sierra called Zacatepec
burned, and the flames were seen from far. All the
people were stirred up and affrighted, saying one to an-

48 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

other, O Toltecs, it is all over with us now; the time of
the end of Tulla is come; alas for us, whither shall we
go? ,

Then Tezcatlipoca wrought another evil upon the Tol-
tecs: he rained down stones upon them. There fell also,
at the same time, a great stone from heaven called tech-
catl; and when it fell the god-sorcerer took the appear-

ance of an old woman, and went about selling little ban-:

ners in a place called Chapultepecuitlapilco, otherwise
named Vetzinco. Many then became mad and bought
of these banners and went to the place where was the
stone Techcatl, and there got themselves killed; and no
one was found to say so much as, What is this that hap-
pens to us? they were all mad.

Another woe Tezcatlipoca brought upon the Toltecs.
All their victuals suddenly became sour, and no one was
able to eat of them. The old woman, above mentioned,
took up then her abode in a place called Xochitla, and
began to roast maize; and the odor of the roasted maize
reached all the cities round about. The starving people
set out immediately, and with one accord, to go where the
old woman was. ‘They reached her instantly, for here it
may be again ‘said, that the Toltecs were exceedingly
light of foot, and arrived always immediately whitherso-
ever they wished to go. As for the Toltecs that gathered
to the sham sorceress, not one of them escaped, she killed
them every one.’

Turning, without remark for the present, from Tezcat-
lipoca, of whose life on earth the preceding farrago of
legends is all that is known, let us take up the same
. period in the history of Quetzalcoatl. The city of Cho-
lula was the place in which this god was most honored,
and towards which he was supposed to be most favorably
inclined; Cholula being greatly given to commerce and

8 Xochitla, garden; see Molina Vocabulario, Perhaps that garden belong:
ing to Quetzalcoatl, which had been already so fatal to the Toltecs, Seo this
i o Ki P.? mugh's Mew, Antiq., vol. vii., PP. 108-18; Sahagun, Hist, Gen.,
tom. i., lib. iii, pp. 243-55. It will be seen that in almost all point of spell-

ing the edition of Kingsborough is followed in preference to the, in such
pointe very inaccurate, edition of Bustamante,

hanc
to b
Cho
wors
dise,
calle
a tem
very
had t
with
ing
carrie
asithe
with ¢
had th
enrich
trueth
was vé
called
for suc
Motc
birth a:
The Me
ers, ma
matl by
called ¢
perate 1
tice the
that tin
ance, ]
restrain
sacrificil
from th
for the s
of his sp
the dem
and wor

10 Acosta
' Ag to {

IMAGE OF QUETZALCOATL. 249

handicraft, and the Cholulans considering Quetzalcoatl
to be the god of merchandise. As Acosta tells: ‘In
Cholula, which is a commonwealth of Mexico, they
worshipt a famous idoll which was the god of marchan-
dise, being to this day greatly given to trafficke. They
called it Quetzaalcoalt. This idoll was in a great place in
a temple very hie: it had about it, golde, silver, jewells,
very rich feathers, and habites of divers colours. It
had the forme of a man, but the visage of a little bird,
with a red bill, and above a combe full of wartes, hav-
ing ranckes of teeth, and the tongue hanging out. It
carried vpon the head, a pointed myter of painted paper,
a sithe in the hand, and many toyes of golde on the legges;
with a thousand other foolish inventions, whereof all
had their significations, and they worshipt it, for that hee
enriched whome hee pleased, as Memnon and Plutus, In
trueth this name which the Choluanos gave to their god,
was very fitte, although they vnderstood it not: they
called it Quetzaalcoalt, signifying colour of a rich feather,
for such is the divell of covetousnesse.”’

Motolinia gives the following confused account of the
birth as a man, the life, and the apotheosis of this god.
The Mexican Adam, called Iztacmixcoatl by some writ-
ers, married a second time." This second wife, Chima-
matl by name, bore him, it is said, an only son who was
called Quetzacoatl. This son grew up a chaste and tem-
perate man. He originated by his preaching and prac-
tice the custom of fasting and self-punishment; and from
that time many in that country began to do this pen-
ance, He never married, nor knew any woman, but lived
restrainedly and chastely all his days, The custom of
sacrificing the ears and the tongue, by drawing blood
from these members, was also introduced by him; not
for the service of the devil but in penitence for the sins
of his speech and‘ his hearing: it is true that afterward
the demon misappropriated these rites to his own use
and worship. A man called Chichimecatl fastened a

10 Acosta, Hist, Nat, Ind. p. $54,
i As to the first wife and her family see this vol. p. 60.

ee

SEATS SRG RANE MORIA MET ae AP

250 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

leather strap on the arm of Quetzalcoatl, fixing it high
up near the shoulder; Chichimecatl was from that time
called Aco'huatl, and from him, it is said, are descended
those of Colhua, ancestors of Montezuma and lords of
Mexico and Coluacan. This Quetzalcoatl is now held
as a deity and called the god of the air; everywhere an
infinite number of temples has been raised to him, and
everywhere his statue or picture is found.”

According to the account of Mendieta, tradition varied
much as to the facts of the life of Quetzalcoatl. Some
said he was the son of Camaxtli, god of hunting and
fishing, and of Camaxtli’s wife Chimalma. Others make
mention only of the name of Chimalma, saying that as she
was sweeping one day she found a small green stone
called chalchiuite, that she picked it up, became miracu-
lously pregnant, and gave birth to the said Quetzalcoatl.
This god was worshiped as a principal deity in Cholula,
where, as well as in Tlaxcala and Huejotzingo, there
were many of his temples. We have already had one
legend from Mendieta,” giving an account of the expul-
sion from Tulla and death of Quetzalcoatl; the following
from the same source gives a different and more usual
version of the said expulsion :—

Quetzalcoatl came from the parts of Yucatan (although
some said from Tulla) to the city of Cholula, He was
a white man, of portly person, broad brow, great eyes,
long black hair, and large round beard; of exceedingly
chaste and quiet life, and of great moderation in all
things. The people had at least three reasons for the
great love, reverence, and devotion with which they re-
garded him: first, he taught the silversmith’s art, a craft
the Cholulans greatly prided themselves on; second, he
desired no sacrifice of the blood of men or animals, but
delighted only in offerings of bread, roses and other
flowers, of perfumes and sweet odors; third, he pro-
hibited and forbade all war and violence. Nor were
these qualities esteemed only in the city of his chiefest

18 Mololinia, Hist. Indios, in Icasbalceta, Col., tom. i., pp. 10-11.
13 See this vol., p. 240,

Span

said t
thems
made

thems
navacy

DEPARTURE OF QUETZALCOATL. 251

labors and teachings; from all the land came pilgrims
and devotees to the shrine of the gentle god. Even
the enemies of Cholula.came and went secure, in fulfill-
ing their vows; and the lords of distant lands had in
Cholula their chapels and idols to the common object of
devotion and esteem. And only Quetzalcoatl among all
the gods was preéminently called Lord; in such sort, that
when any one swore, saying, By Our Lord, he meant
Quetzalcoatl and no other; though there were many
other highly esteemed gods. For indeed the service of
this god was gentle, neither did he demand hard things,
but light; and he taught only virtue, abhorring all evil
and hurt. Twenty years this good deity remained in
Cholula, then he passed away by the road he had come,
carrying with him four of the principal and most virtu-
ous youths of that city. He journeyed for a hundred
and fifty leagues, till he came to the sea, in a distant
province called Goatzacoalco. Here he took leave of
his companions and sent them back to their city, in-
structing them to tell their fellow citizens that a day
should come in which white men would land upon their
coasts, by way of the sea in which the sun rises;
brethren of his and having beards like his; and that
, they should rule that land. The Mexicans always waited
for the accomplishment of this prophecy, and when the
Spaniards came they took them for the descendants of
their meek and gentle prophet, although, as Mendieta re-
marks with some sarcasm, when they came to know them
and to experience their works, they thought otherwise.
Quetzalcoatl is further reported by Mendieta to have
assisted in drawing up and arranging the Mexican Calen-
dar, a sacred book of thirteen tables, in which the reli-
gious rites and ceremonies proper to each day were set
forth, in connection with the appropriate signs. It is
said that the gods having created mankind, bethought
themselves that it would be well if the people they had
made had some writings by which they might direct
themselves, Now there were, in a certain cave at Cuer-
navaca, two personages of the number of the gods, and

252 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

they were man and wife, he Oxomoco and she Cipacto-
nal; and they were consulting together. It appeared
good to the old woman that her descendant Quetzalcoatl
should be consulted. The Cholulan god thought the
thing of the calendar to be good and reasonable; so the
the three set to work. To the old woman was respect-
fully allotted the privilege of choosing and writing the
first sign; she painted a kind of water-serpent called
cipactl, and called the sign Ce Cipactli, that is ‘a ser-
pent.” Oxomoco, in his turn wrote “two canes,” and
then Quetzalcoatl wrote ‘‘three houses;”’ and so they
went on till the whole thirteen signs of each table were
written out in their order.”

Let us now take up again the narrative of Sahagun, at
the point where Quetzalcoatl, after drinking the potion
prepared by Tezcatlipoca, prepares to set off upon his
journey. Quetzalcoatl, very heavy in heart for all the
misfortunes that this rival god was bringing upon ihe
Toltecs, burned his beautiful houses of silver and of shell,
and ordered other precious things to be buried in the
mountains and ravines. He turned the cocoa-nut trees
into a kind of trees that are called mizquitl; he com-
manded all the birds of rich plumage, the quetzaltototl,
and the xiuhtotl, and the tlauquechol, to fly away and

go into Andhuac, a hundred leagues distant. Then he’

himself set out upon his road from Tulla; he traveled on
till he came to a place called Quauhtitlan, where was a
great tree, high and very thick. Here the exile rested,
and he asked his servanic for a mirror, and looked
at his own face. What thoughts soever were working
in his heart, he only said, I am already old. Then he
named that place Vevequauhtitlan, and he took up stones
and stoned the great tree; and all the stones he threw
sank into it, and were for a long time to be seen sticking
there, from the ground even up to the topmost branches.
Continuing his journey, having flute-players playing
before him, he came to a place on the road where he
was weary and sat down on a stone torest. And looking
M Mendieta, Hist, Ecles., pp. 82, 86, 92-3, 97-8,

towa:
ate i
hands
when
Tem
wide
throw
and
his w
tain sc
goest t
wilt th
replied
my go
Whithe
tinued,
called ¢
then, br
ing of §
sonry, f
And of :
for him,
he had |
pa, and
Quetz
another ;
Quetzale
well; bu
answerec
taste it,
it but a ¢
intoxicat
wine and
himself d:
and wher
other, anc
was callec
Quetzal
tween the

THE SUN CALLS QUETZALCOATL. 253

toward Tulla, he wept bitterly. His tears marked and
ate into the stone on which he sat, and the print of his
hands, and of his back parts, was also found therein
when he resumed his journey. He called that place
Temacpaleo. After that he reached a very great and
wide river, and he commanded a stone bridge to be
thrown across it; on that bridge he crossed the river,
and he named the place Tepanoaya. Going on upon
his way, Quetzalcoatl came to another place, where cer-
tain sorcerers met and tried to stop him, saying, Whither
goest thou? why dost thou leave thy city? to whose care
wilt thou commend it? who will do penance? Quetzalcoatl
replied to the said sorcerers, Ye can in no wise hinder
my going, for I must go. They asked him further,
Whither goest thou? He said, To Tlapalla. They con-
tinued, But to what end goest thou? He said, I am
called and the sun calls me. So the sorcerers said, Go
then, but leave behind all the mechanical arts, the melt-
ing of silver, the working of precious stones and of ma-
sonry, the painting, feather-working, and other crafts.
And of all these the sorcerers despoiled Quetzalcoatl. As
for him, he cast into a fountain all the rich jewels that
he had with him; and that fountain was called Cohcaa-
pa, and it is so named to this day.

Quetzalcoatl continued his journey; and there came
another sorcerer to meet him, saying, Whither goest thou?
Quetzalcoatl said, To Tlapalla, The wizard said, Very
well; but drink this wine that I have. The traveler
answered, No: I cannot drink it; I cannot so much as
taste it. Thou must drink, said the grim magician, were
it but a drop; for to none of the living can I give it; it
intoxicates all, so drink. Then Quetzalcoatl took the
wine and drank it through a cane. Drinking, he made
himselfdrunk; he slept upon the road ; he began to snore;
and when he awoke, he looked on one side and on the
other, and tore his hair with his hands. And that place
was called Cochtoca.

Quetzalceatl going on upon his way and passing be-
tween the sierra of the volcano and the snowy sierra, all

254 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

his servants, being hump-backed and dwarfs, died of cold
in the pass between the said mountains. And Quet-
zalcoatl bewailed their death bitterly and sang with
weeping and sighing. Then he saw the other snowy
sierra, which is called Poyauhtecatl and is near Teca-
machalco; and so he passed by all the cities and placrs,
leaving many signs, it is said, in all the mountains and
roads. It is said further that he had a way of crossing
the sierras whereby he amused and rested himself at the
same time: when he came to the top of a mountain he
used to sit down, and so seated, let himself slide down
the mountain-side to the bottom. In one place he built
a court for ball-play, all of squared stone, and here he
used to play the game called ¢tlachtli.* Through the midst
of this court he drew a line called the ¢elcotl; and where
that line was made the mountain is now opened with a
deep gash. In another place he cast a dart at a great
tree called a pochutl, piercing it through with the dart
in such wise that the tree looked like a cross; for the
dart he threw was itseli’ 2. tree of the same kind.” Some
say that Quetzalcoatl built certain subterranean houses,
called mictlancalco; and further, that he set up and bal-
anced a great stone, so that one could move it with one’s
little finger, yet a multitude could not displace it. Many
other notable things remain that Quetzalcoatl did among
many peoples; he it was that named all the places and
woods and mountains. Traveling ever onward, he came
at last to the sea-shore, and there commanded a raft to
be made of the snakes called coatlapechth. Having seated
himself on this raft as in «1 canoe, he put out to sea, and
no man knows how he got to Tlapallan.”

Torquemada gives a long and valuable account of
Quetzalcoatl, gathered from many sources, which cannot
be overlooked. It runs much as follows:—The name

6 Tock es ,. Lh! lota con las nalgas; el lugar donde juegan assi
Molina, Vocabulario, gies pest

17 This last clause is to be found only in Bustamante’s ed.; see Sahagun,
Het, Sin bore i's tea,” Soite vol. vii 114-5; Sahagun, Hist. Gen.,
tom. i., lib. iii., pp. 255-9. a iA aL :

Quetz
plums
name,
on th
thence
brated
in tha
to cre
From
Bartol
thougk
It is si
bodied
and a
ficer, ¢
arts, e
called
highly
The pe
estima
so it |
ruler o
spiritu
preme,
It is
god ths
emeral
white,
and otl
very 1
very ol
called
lish an;
upon a
loud ve
this cri

9 ¢ Ep
des, los c
Monarg. 1

£0 Spel

SWIFTNESS OF THE SERVANTS OF QUETZALCOATL. 255

Quetzalcoatl means Snake-plumage, or Snake that has
plumage,—and the kind of snake referred to in this
name, is found in the province of Xicalanco, which is
on the frontier of the kingdom of Yucatan as one goes
thence to Tabasco. This god Quetzalcoatl was very cele-
brated among the people of the city of Cholula, and held
in that place for the greatest of all. He was, according
to credible histories, high priest in the city of Tulla.
From that place he went to Cholula, and not, as Bishop
Bartolomé de las Casas says in his Apologia, to Yucatan ;
though he went to Yucatan afterwards, as we shall see.
It is said of Quetzalcoatl that he was a white man, large
bodied, broad-browed, great-eyed, with long black hair,
and a beard heavy and rounded.” He was a great arti-
ficer, and very ingenious. He taught many mechanical
arts, especially the art of working the precious stones
called chalchiuites, which are a kind of green stone
highly valued, and the art of casting silver and gold.
The people, seeing him so inventive, held him in great
estimation, and reverenced him as king in that city; and
so it came about that, though in temporal things the
ruler of Tulla was a lord named Huemac,” yet in all
spiritual and ecclesiastical matters Quetzalcoatl was su-
preme, and as it were chief pontiff.

It is feigned by those that seek to make nwch of their
god that he had certain palaces made of green stone like
emeralds, others made of silver, others of shells, red and
white, others of all kinds of wood, others of turquoise,
and others of precious feathers. He is said to have been
very rich, and in need of nothing. His vassals were
very obedient to him, and very light of foot; they were
called tlanquacemilhuique. When they wished to pub-
lish any command of Quetzalcoatl, they sent a crier up
upon a high mountain called Tzatzitepec, where with a
loud voice he proclaimed the order; and the voice of
this crier was heard for a hundred leagues distance, and

19 ‘Era Hombre blanco, crecido de cuerpo, ancha la frente, los ojos gran-
des, los cabellos largos, y negros, la barba grande y redonda.’ Torquemada,
Monarq. Ind., tom. ii

£0 Spelled ‘Vemac by Sahagun; see preceding pages of this chapter.

256 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

farther, even to the coasts of the sea: all this is affirmed
for true. The fruits of the earth and the trees flourished
there in an extraordinary degree, and sweet singing birds
were sbundant. The great pontiff inaugurated a system
of penance, pricking his legs, and drawing blood and
staining therewith maguey thorns. He washed also at
midnight in a fountain called Xiuhpacoya. From all
this, it is said, the idolatrous priests of Mexico adopted
their similar custom.

While Quetzalcoatl was enjoying th’s good fortune with
pomp and majesty, we are told that a great magician
called Titlacahua [Tezcatlipoca], another of the gods,
arrived at Tulla. He took the form of an old man, and
went in to see Quetzalcoatl, saying to him, My lord, in-
asmuch as [ know thine intent and how much thou
desirest to set out for certain distant lands, also, because
I know from thy servants that thou art unwell, I have
brought thee a certain beverage, by drinking which thou
shalt attain thine end. Thou shalt so make thy way to
the country thou desirest, having perfect health to make
the journey; neither shalt thou remember at all the
fatigues and toils of life, nor how thou art mortal.”
Seeing all his projects thus discovered by the pretended
old man, Quetzalcoatl questioned him, Where have I to
go. ‘Tezcatlipoca answered, That it was already deter-
mined with the supreme gods, that he had to go to Tla-
palla, and that the thing was inevitable, because there
was another old man waiting for him at his destination
Ae Quetzalcoatl heard this, he said that it was true, and
that he desired it much; and he took the vessel and
drank the liquor it contained. Quetzaleoatl was thus
easily persuaded to what Tezcatlipoca desired, because
he wished to make himself immortal and to enjoy per-
petual life, Having swallowed the draught he became
beside himself, and out of his mind, weeping sadly and
bitterly. He determined to go to Tlapalla, He de-
stroyed or buried all his plate and other property and

- This agrees ili with what is related at this point by Sahagun; soo this
vol, p. $

wholly m
been at t)
he wrote
made at
see if the
tom, ii, }

QUETZALCOATL LEAVES MARKS ON A STONE. 257

set out. First he arrived at the place, Quauhtitlan,
where the great tree was and where he, borrowing a
mirror from his servants, found himself “ already old.”
The name of this place was changed by him to Huehue-
quauhtitlan, that is to say, ‘‘near the old tree, or the
tree of the old man;’ and the trunk of the tree was filled
with stones that he cast at it. After that he journeyed
on, his people playing flutes and other instruments, till
he came to a mountain near the city of Tlalnepantla,
two leagues from the city of Mexico, where he sat down on
a stone and put his hands on it, leaving marks embedded
therein that may be seen to thisday. The truth of this
thing is strongly corroborated by the inhabitants of that
district; I myself have questioned them upon the sub-
ject, and it has been certified to me. Furthermore we
have it written down accurately by many worthy authors;
and the name of the locality is now Temacpalco, that is
to say “in the palm of the hand.’

Journeying on to the coast and to the kingdom of Tla-

palla, Quetzalcoatl was met by the three sorcerers, 'T'ez-

catlipoca and other two with him, who had already
brought so much destruction upon Tulla, These tried
to stop or hinder him in his journey, questioning him,
Whither goest thou? He answered, To Tlapalla. To
whom, they inquired, hast thou given the charge of thy
kingdom of Tulla, and who will do penance there? But
he said that that was no longer any affair of his and that
he must pursue his road. .\nd being further questioned
as to the object of his journey, he said that he was called
by the lord of the land to which he was going, who was
the sun.” The three wizards seeing then the determi-

# At this part of the story Torquemada takes opportunity, parenthet-
ically, to remark that this fable was very generally current among the
Mexicans, and that when Father Bernardino de Sahagun was in the city of
Xuchimileo, they asked him where Tlapalla was, Sahagun replied that he
did not know, as indeed he did not (nor any one elwe--it being apparently
wholly mythical), nor even understand their question, inasmuch as he had
been at that time only a little whiie in the country—-it being fifty years before
he wrote his book [the Historia General], Sahagun adds that the Mexicans
made at that time divers trials of this kind, questioning the Christians to
~~ i Neg ier anything of their antiquities. Torquemada, Monarq. Ind.,
om, ii, p. 50,

Vou. IM,

258 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

nation of Quetzalcoatl, made no further attempt to dis-
suade him from his purpose, but ,contented themselves
with taking from him all his instruments and _ his
mechanical arts, so that though he departed those
things should not be wanting to the state. It was here
that Quetzalcoat) threw into a fountain all the rich
jewels that he carried with him; for which thing the
fountain was called from that time Cozcaapan, that is to
say, ‘The water of the strings or chains of jewels.”
The same place is now called Coaapan, that is to say,
‘‘In the snake-water,’ and very properly, because the
word (uetzalcoatl means “ feathered snake.” In this
way he journeyed on, suffering various molestations
from those sorcerers, his enemies, till he arrived at
Cholula where he was received (as we in another part
say),” and afterward adored as god. Having lived
twenty years in that city he was expelled by Tezcatli-
poca, He set out for the kingdomn of Tlapalla, accom-
panied by four virtuous youths of noble birth, and in

23 The passage of Tonquemada referred to I condense as follows: (er-
tain people came from the north by way of Panuco, These were men of
good carriage, well-dressed in long robes of black linen, open in front, and
without capes, cut low at the neck, with short sleeves that did not com» to
the elbow; the same, in fact, as the natives ase to this day in their dances
From Panuco they passed on ver re by degrees to Tulla, where the)
were well received by the inhabitants, The country there, however, was
already too thickly populated to sustain the sew-comers, so these passed on
to Cholula where they had an excellent reception, They brought with
them as their chief and head, 9 personage called Quetzaleoatl, a fair and
ruddy complexioned man, with a long beard, Jn Cholula these people
remained and multiplied, and sent colonies to people Upper and Lower Miz-
tecn and the Zapotecan country; and these it is said raised the grand edifices,
whose remains are still to be seen at Mictlan, These followers of Qnetzal-
coatl were men of great knowledge and cunning artists in all kinds of fine
work; not so good at masonry and the use of the hammer, as in casting and
in the engrav' mm and setting of precious stones, and in all kinds of artistic
sculpture, and in agriculture. Quetznlcoatl had, however, two enemies:
Tezcatlipoon was one, and Huemac king of Tulla the other; these two had
been most instrumental in causing him to leave Tulla, Amd at Choluln,
Huemao followed him up with a great army; and Quetzaleotal, not wishing
tc engage in any war, departed for another part with most part of his people
going, it is avid, to # land called Onohualco, which is near the sea, and
embraced what are now called Yucatan, ‘Tabasco, and Campeche, ‘Then
when Huemac came to the place where he had thought to find Quetzalcont!,
and found him not, he was wrath and laid waste and destroyed all the
country, and made himself lord over it and caused also that the people wor
shipped him asa god, All this he did to obseure and blot out the memory
of Quetzalcoatl and for the hate that he bore him. Torquemada, Monary.
Ind., tom, i., pp. 264-6,

four,
in lik
came ;

was mi
only wi
oh cust
wd apy
for the
that he
called
order of
graved «
said tha
fices te |

we have
them to
of calmii
further ¢

Tlaloques

ordinari]

blew stro
coutl is ¢

QUETZALCOATL SWEPT THE ROADS. 259

Goatzacoaleo, a province distant from Cholula toward
the sea a hundred and fifty leagues, he embarked for his
destination. Parting with his disciples, he told them
that there should surely come to them in after times, by
way of the sea where the sun rises, certain white men
with white beards, like him, and that these would be his
brothers and would rule that land.

After that the four disciples returned to Cholula, and
told all that their master and god had prophesied when
departing. Then the Cholulans divided their province
into four principalities and gave the government to those
four, and some four of their descendants always ruled
in like manner over these tetrarchies till the Spaniard
came; being, however, subordinate to a central power.

This Quetzalcoatl was god of the air, and as such had
his temple, of a round shape and very magnificent.
He was made god of the air for the mildness and gentle-
ness of all his ways, not liking the sharp and harsh
measures to which the other gods were so strongly in-
el ued. Ut is to be said further that his life on earth
was marked by intensely religious characteristics; not
only was he devoted to the careful observance of all the
ol customary forms of worship, but he himself ordained
wd appointed many new rites, ceremonies, and festivals
for the adoration of the gods; and it is held for certain
that he made the calendar. He had priests who were
called quequetzalcohua, that is to say ‘ priests of the
order of Quetzalcoatl.”” The memory of him was ‘en-
graved deeply upon the minds of the people, and it is
said that when barren women prayed and made sacri-
ficex to him, children were given them. He was, as
we have said, god of the winds, and the power of causing
them to blow was attributed to him as well as the power
of calming or causing their fury to cease. It was said
further that he swept the road, so that the*gods called
Tlaloques could rain: this the people imagined because
ordinarily a month or more before the rains began there
blew strong winds throughout all New Spain. Quetzal-
coutl is described as having worn during life, for the

SAID sie 568t AROR EL Tae

260 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP,

sake of modesty, garments that reached down to the
feet, with a blanket over all, sown with red crosses.
The Cholulans preserved certain green stones that had
belonged to him, regarding them with great veneration
and esteeming them as relics. Upon one of these was
carved a monkey's head, very natural. In the city of
Cholula there was to be found dedicated to him & great
and magnificent temple, with many steps, but each step
so narrow that there was not room for a foot on it. His
image had a very ugly face, with a large and heavily
bearded head. It was not set on its feet but lying
down, and covered with blankets. This, it is said, was
done as a memorial that he would one day return to
reign. For reverence of his great majesty, his image
was kept covered, and to signify his absence it was kept
lying down, as one that sleeps, as one that lies down to
sleep. In awaking from that sleep, he was to rise up
and reign. The people also of Yucatan reverenced this
god Quetzalcoatl, calling him Kukulcan, and saying that
he came to them from the west, that is from New Spain,
for Yucatan is eastward therefrom. From him it is said
the kings of Yucatan are descended, who call themselves
Cocomes, that is to say ‘‘ judges or hearers,” ™
Clavigero’s account is characteristically clear and com-
prehensible. It may be summed up as follows:—
Among the Mexicans and other nations of Anshuac,
Quetzalcoatl was accounted god of the air. He is said
to have been sometime high-priest of Tulla, He is de-
scribed as having been white,—a large, broad-browed,
great-eyed man, with long black hair and thick beard.
His life was rigidly temperate and exemplary, and his
industry was directed by the profoundest wisdom, He
amassed great treasure, and his was the invention of
gem-cutting and of metal-casting. All things prospered
in his time. One ear of corn was « man’s load; and
the gourds, or pumpkins, of the day were as tall as one's
body. Noone dyed cotton then, for it grew of all colors;
and all other things in like manner were perfect and
% Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom, il., pp. 48-52.

built a
erected
ship as g
Yucatan

The id
their root
Appearing
religions
those ides
% Clavive

Ss ore,

OLAVIGERO ON QUETZALCOATL. 261

abundant. The very birds in the trees sang such songe
as have never since been heard, and flashed such mar-
velous beauties in the sun as no plumage of Jater times
could rival. Quetzalcoatl had his laws proclaimed from
the top of the hill Tzatzitepec, (mountain of outcry),
near Tulla, by a crier whose voice was audible for three
hundred miles.

All this, however, was put an end to, as far as Tulla
was concerned, by Tezcatlipoca, who, moved perhaps by
jealousy, determined to remove Quetzalcoatl. So the
god appeared to the great teacher in the guise of an old
man, telling him it was the will of the gods that he be-
take himself to Tlapalla, and administering at the same
time a potion, the effect of which was to cause a. in-
tense longing for the said journey. Quetzalcoatl set out
and, having performed many marvels on the way, arrived
in Cholula, Here the inhabitants would not suffer him
to go farther, but persuaded him to accept the govern-
ment of their city; and he remained with them, teaching
many useful arts, customs, and ceremonies and preach-
ing against war and all other forms of cruelty. Accord-
ing to some, he at this time arranged the divisions of
the seasons and the calendar.

Having lived twenty years in Cholula, he left, still
impelled by the subtle draught, to seek this imaginary
city of Tlapalla. He was no more seen of men, some
said one thing and some another; but, however he
might have disappeared, he was apotheosized by the
Toltecs of Cholula, who raised him a great mound and
built a sanctuary upon it. A similar structure was
erected to his honor at Tulla. From Cholula his wor-
ship as god of the air spread over all the country; in
Yucatan the nobles claimed descent from him,”

The ideas of Brasseur with regard to Quetzalcoatl have
their roots in and must be traced back to the very first
appearing of the Mexican religion, or of the religion or
religions by which it was preceded; so that to arrive at
those ideas I must give a summary of the abbé’s whole
% Claviyero, Hist, Amb, del Messico, pp. 11-18,

i A i a es

=~

” - 3

SS ae Se ee
g :

Sapte

$ebre noes:

imei ete

anni Hpi

262 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP

theory of the origin of that creed. He believes that in
the seething and thundering of vo'canoes a conception
of divinity and of supernatural powers first sprang up in
the mind of the ancestors of the Mexicans. The volca-
noes were afterwards identified with the stars, and the
most terrific of all, Nanahuatl or Nanahuatzin,” received
the honors of apotheosis in the sun. Issued from the
earth of the Crescent (Brasseur’s sunken island or con-
tinent in the Atlantic),” personified in the antique
Quetzalcoatl, prototype of priests and of sacerdotal con-
tinence, he is thus his son and identifies himself with
him; he (the divinity, Tylor's ‘Great Somebody”’) is
the model of sages under the name of Hueman and
the prototype of kings under that of Topiltzin. Strange
thing to find united in one being, personalities so diverse !
King, philosopher, priest par excellence, whose virtues
serve as a rule to all the priests of the pagan antiquity,
and, side by side with all that, incontinence and passion
deified in this invalid, whose name even, “ the syphili-
tic,” is the expression of the abuse he has made of the
BEX.

At the commencement of the religion two sects appear
to have sprung up, or rather two manners of judging the
sume events. There was first a struggle, and then a
separation; under the banner-names of Quetzalcoatl and
Tezeatlipoca the rival schools fought for the most part—
of course there were divers minor factions; but the
foregoing were the principal and most important. There
is every reason to believe that the religion that took
Quetzalcoatl for symbol was-but a reformation upon
another more ancient, that had the moon for its object.
It is the moon, male and female, Luna Lunus, personi-
fied in the earth of the Crescent, engulfed in the abyss,
that [ believe (it is always the abbé that speaks) I see
at the commencement of the amalgam of rites and sym-
bols of every kind, religion of enjoyments and material
pleasures, born of the promiscuity of the men and

% See p. 60 of this volume,
7 Soe p. 112 of this volume.

BRASSEUR ON QUETZALCOATL. 263

women, taken refuge in the lesser Antilles after the cata-
clysm.

The religion that had taken the moon for point of
departure, and in which women seem to have played the
principal réle, as priestesses, attacked formally, by this
very fact, a more antique religion, a pre-diluvian relig-
ion that appears to have been Sabaism, entirely exempt
from idolatry, and in which the sun received the chief
homage. In the new religion, on the contrary, it was
not the moon as a star, which was the real object of
worship, it was the moon-land (lune-terre), it was the
region of the Crescent, shrouded under the waves, whose
death was wept and whose resurrection was afterward
celebrated in the appearance of the isles—refuge of the
shipwrecked of the grand catastrophe—of the Lesser
Antilles; to the number of seven principal islands, sung,
in all American legends, as the Seven Grottoes, cradle of
nations.

This is the myth of Quetzalcoatl, who dies or disap-
pears, and whose personality is represented at the
outset in the isles, then successively, in all the coun-
tries whither the civilization was carried ef which he
was the flag. So far as [ can judge at present, the priest
who placed himself under the sgis of this grand name,
labored solely to reform what there was of odious and
barbarous in the cult of which the women had the chief
direction, and under whose regime human blood flowed
in waves. After the triumph of Quetzalcoatl, the men
who bore his name took the direction of religion and
society, which then made considerable progress in their
hands,

But if we are to believe the same traditions, their pre-
ponderance had not a very long duration. The most
restless and the most audacious among the partisans of
the ancient order of things, raised the flag of revolt:
they became the chiefs of a warlike faction, rival of the
swerdotal,—a conquering faction, source of veritable
royal dynasties and of the religion of the sun living and
victorious, in opposition to the god entombed in the

264 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

abyss. Quetzalcoatl, vanquished by Tezcatlipoca, then
retired before a too-powerful enemy, and the Toltecs
were dispersed among all nations. Those of them that
remained coalesced with the victors, and from the accord
of the aforementioned three cults, there sprang that
monstrous amalgam of so many different ideas and sym-
bols, such as is found to-day in what remains to us of the
Mexican religion.

For me (and it is always the abbé that speaks), I be-
lieve I perceive the origin of the struggle, not alone in
the diversity of races, but principally in the existence of
two currents of contrary ideas, having had the same point
of departure in the events of the great cataclysm of the
Crescent Land, above referred to. Different manners of
looking at these events and of commemorating them, seem
to me to have marked from the beginning the starting
point of two religions that lived, perhaps, side by side
for centuries without the explosion of their disagree-
ments, otherwise than by insignificant agitations. Before
these two could take, with regard to each other, the pro-
portions of a schism or a heresy, it was necessary that
all the materials of which these religions are constituted
had had time to elaborate themselves, and that the
hieroglyphics which represented their origin had become
sufficiently obscure for the priesthood to keep the vulgar
from understanding them. For, if schism has brought
on the struggle between and afterward the violent sepa-
ration of families, this separation can not have taken
place till after the entire creation of myths, the entire
construction of these divine genealogies, of these poetic
traditions, that are found scattered among all the peoples
of the earth, but of which the complete whole does not
exist, save in the history and religion of Mexico.”

Two orders of gods,—the one order fallen from heaven

% This, in its astounding immensity, is the abbé’s theory: his supposi-
tional Crescent Land was the cradle of all human races and human creeds.
On its submergence the aforesaid races and creeds spread and develo) ved
through all the world to their respective present localities and phases. The
Mexican branch of this development he considers the likest to and the most
closely connected with the original.

into
and
to li
ord $
im e)
cha
this
by t
weig
wave
first,
nahug
mies,
ocean
after
flag of
a victi
the ab
those t
and d
at Chic
world.
whom -
zalcoatl
sacrifice
of flame
(uering
holocau:
%In Yu
30 Brass
para; ‘aph |
stand-point
of having ¢
ordres de d
les juges de
Vie et de la
vie impérins
Origine, M
les eaux, o'e
de la vague |
atl, o'est Te
dont la lutte

celui en qui
des adversais

MANY CHARACTERS OF QUETZALCOATL. 265

into the abyss, becoming there the judges of the dead,
and being personified in one of their number, who came
to life again, symbolizing thus life and death,—the other
order surviving the cataclysm and symbolizing thus an
imperishable life,—such, at its origin, is the double
character of the myth of Quetzalcoatl. But, in reality,
this god he is the earth, he is the region swallowed up
by the waters, he is the vanquished stifled under the
weight of his adversary, under the force of the victorious
wave; which adversary, which power in opposition to the
first, joining itself to the fire on the blazing pile of Na-
nahuatl, is Tezcatlipoca, is Hercules, conqueror of ene-
mies, is the god whose struggle is eternal as that of the
ocean beating the shore, is he in whom the light becomes
afterward personified, and who becomes thus the battle-
flag of the opponents of Quetzalcoatl. To the dead god
a victim is necessary, one that like him descends into
the abyss. This victim was a young girl, chosen among
those that were consecrated at the foot of the pyramid,
and drowned; a custom long found as well in Egypt as
at Chichen-Itza,” and in many other countries of the
world. But to the god come to life again, to the god in
whom fire was personified, and immortal life, to Quet-
aulcoatl when he became Huitzilopochtli, victims were
sacrificed, by tearing out the heart—symbol of the jet
of flame issuing from the voleano—to offer it to the con-
quering sun, symbol of Tezcatlipoca, who first: demanded
holocausts of human blood.”

% In Yucatan,

30 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Quatres Lettres, pe. 164-7. Much of this last
paragraph seems utterly incomprehensible and absurd, even viewed from the
stand-point of the Abbé Brasseur himself. By no means certain, at all points,
of having caught the exact meaning by its author, I give the original:—Deux
ordres de dieux, dont les uns, tombés du ciel dans l’abime ot ils deviennent
les juges des morts, se personnifient en un seul qui ressuscite, symbole de la
vie et de la mort; dont les autres survivent A la destruction, symbole de la
vie impérissable; tel est le double caractére du mythe de Quetzal-Coatl, A son
origine, Mais en réalité, ce dieu, c'est la terre, c’est la région ensevelie sous
lea eaux, c'est le vainou étouffé sous le poids de son adversaire, sous l’effort
de la vague victorieuse et celle-ci s'unissant au feu sur le bicher de Nanahu-
atl, c'est Tezcatlipoca, c'est Hercule, vainqueur de ses ennemis, c'est le dieu
dont la lutte est éternelle, comme celle de ]'Océan battant le rivage, c'est

celui en qui se personnifie ensuite la lumiére et qui devient ainsi le drapeau
les adversnires de Quetzal-Coatl, Au dieu mort, il fallait une victime, cum-

266 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Mr Tylor declares Quetzalcoatl to have been the Sun:
“We may even find him identified with the Sun by
name, and his history is perhaps a more compact and
perfect series of solar myths than hangs to the name of
any single personage in our own Aryan mythology.
His mother, the Dawn or the Night, gives birth to him,
and dies. His father Camaxtli is the sun, and was wor-
shiped with solar rites in Mexico, but he is the old Sun
of yesterday. The clouds, personified in the mythic
race of the Mixcohuas, or ‘‘ Cloud-Snakes” (the Nibel-
ungs of the western hemisphere), bear down the old Sun
and choke him, and bury him in their mountain. But
the young Quetzalcoatl, the Sun of to-day, rushes up in-
to the midst of them from below, and some he slays at
the first onset, and some he leaves, rift with red wounds
to die. We have the Sun boat of Helios,.of the Egypt-
ian Ra, of the Polynesian Maui. Quetzolcoatl, his
bright career drawing toward its close, is chased into
far lands by his kindsman Tezcatlipoca, the young Sun
of to-morrow. He, too, is well known as a Sun God in
the Mexican theology. Wonderfully fitting with all
this, one incident after another in the life of Quetzal-
coatl falls into its place. The guardians of the sacred
fire tend him, his funeral pile is on the top of Orizaba,
he is the helper of travelers, the maker of the calendar,
the source of astrology, the beginner of history, the
bringer of: wealth and happiness. He is the patron of
the craftsmen, whom he lights to his labor; as it is
written in an ancient Sanskrit hymn, ‘ He steps forth,
the splendor of the sky, the wide-seeing, the far-aiming,
the shining wanderer; surely enlivened by the sun, do
men go to their tasks and do their work.’ Iiven his

me lui, descendue dans l'abime: ce fut une jeune fille, choisie parmi celles
qui lui étaient consacrées au pied de la pyramide, et qu’on noyait en la
piopgsens sous l’eau, coutume gu’on retrouva longtemps en Egypte, comme

Chichen-Itza, ainsi que dans bien d'autres pays du monde, Mais au dieu
ressuscité, au dieu en qui se parroacees? le feu, la vie immortelle, & Quetzal-
Coall, devenu Huitail-Opoohll , On sacrifia des victimes sans nombre, A qui
Von arrachait le cour, symbole du jet de flamme sortant du volcan, pour
Voffrir au soleil vainqueur, symbole de Tezcatlipoca qui, le premier, avait
demand? des holocaustes de sang humain, Jd., pp. 344-3,

ing fe
when
spread
ains, |
In |
1 Ty

BRINTON ON QUETZALCOaTL,
Jr Brinton is of opinion that “

e already explained. Others of
his titles were, Ehecatl, the air; Yolcuat, the rattlesnake ;

Tohil, the rumbler ; Huemac, the strong hand; Nanihe-
hecatl, lord of the four winds,

The same dualism re-
‘ppears in him that has been noted in his analogues

Priest of that “ppy realm. The morning star was his

olula was dedicated to him
expressly as the author of light. Ag by days we

ntor of the calen-

east, assigning as 9 reason that th '
Tlapallan, demanded his presence. But the

been overcome by Tezcatlipoca, other.

, the wind or spirit of night,

by a spider’s web and
Presented his rival with a draught pretended to confer
immortality, but, in fact, producing uncontrollable long-
ing for home. For the wind and the light both depart
when the gloaming draws near, or when the clouds
spread their dark and shadowy webs along the mount.

ans, and pour the vivifying rain upon the fields,
In his other character, h

3! Tylon's Researehs, pp. 125-6,

& was begot of the breath of

TEST TARGET (MT-3)

ke feo
Dr
— Me8
WZ Ws. WL

IMAGE EVALUATION

NOR Ry Nc A

23 WEST MAIN STRKET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580
(716) 672-4503

268 30D8, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Tonacateotl, god of our flesh or subsistence, or (accord-
ing to Gomara) was the son of Iztac Mixcoatl, the white
cloud serpent, the spirit of the tornado. Messenger of
Tlaloc, god of rain, he was figuratively said to sweep
the road for him, since in that country violent winds are
the precursors of the wet seasons. Wherever he went
all manner of singing birds bore him company, emblems
of the whistling breezes. When he finally disappeared
in the far east, he sent back four trusty youths who
had ever shared his fortunes, ‘incomparably swift and
light of foot,’ with directions to divide the earth between
them and rule it till he should return and resume his
power, When he would promulgate his decrees, his
herald proclaimed them from Tzatzitepec, the hill of
shouting, with such a mighty voice that it could be heard
a hundred leagues around. The arrows which he shot
transfixed great trees, the stones he threw leveled for-
ests, and when he laid his hands on the rocks the mark
was indelible, Yet as thus emblematic of the thunder-
storm, he possessed in full measure its better attributes.
By shaking his sandals he gave fire to men; and peace,
plenty, and riches blessed his subjects. Tradition says

e built many temples to Mictlantecutli, the Aztec Pluto,
and at the creation of the sun that he slew all the other
gods, for the advancing dawn disperses the spectral
shapes of night, and yet all its vivifying power does but
result in increasing the number doomed to fall before the
remorseless stroke of death.

His symbols were the bird, the serpent, the cross and
the flint, representing the clouds, the lightning, the four
winds, and the thunderbolt. Perhaps, as Huemac, the
Strong Hand, he was god of the earthquakes. The Za-
potecs worshiped such a deity under the image of this
number carved from a precious stone, calling to mind
the ‘Kab ul,’ the Working Hand, adored by the Mayas,
and said to be one of the images of Zamna their hero
god. The human hand, ‘that divine tool,’ as it has
been called, might well be regarded by the reflective
mind as the teacher of the arts and the amulet whose

three
attril
sons
scent
Bo
Moze:
to bu
gave |

moving
Cholul
and w
that ‘

a:

2 Bri
8 Help;

ANALOGUES OF QUETZALCOATL. 269

magic power has won for man what vantage he has
gained in his long combat with nature and his fellows.”

Mr Helps sees in Quetzalcoatl the closest analogies

with certain other great civilizers and teachers that
made their appearance in various parts of the American
continent :—‘‘ One peculiar circumstance, as Humboldt
remarks, is very much to be noted in the ancient records
and traditions of the Indian nations. In no less than
three remarkable instances has superior civilization been
attributed to the sudden presence among them of per-
sons differing from themselves in appearance and de-
scent. ’
Bohica, a white man with a beard, appeared to the
Mozca Indians in the plains of Bogota, taught them how
to build and to sow, formed them into communities,
gave an outlet to the waters of the great lake, and, hav-
ing settled the government civil and ecclesiastical, retired
into a monastic state of pentitence for two thousand
years.

In like manner Manco Capac, accompanied by his
sister, Mama Oello, descended amongst the Peruvians,
gave them a code of admirable laws, reduced them into
communities, and then ascended to his father, the Sun.

Amongst the Mexicans there suddenly appeared Quet-
zilcoatl (green-feathered snake), a white and bearded
man, of broad brow, dressed in a strange dress; a
legislator, who recommended severe penances, lacerating
his own body with the prickles of the agave and the
thorns of the cactus, but who dissuaded his followers
from human sacrifice. While he remained in Andhunc,
it was a Saturnian reign; but this great legielator, after
moving on to the plains of Cholula, and governing the
Cholulans with wisdom, passed away to a distant country,
and was never heard of more. It is said briefly of him
that ‘he ordained sacrifices of flowers and fruits, and
“ his ears when he was spoken to of war.’” ®

‘he Abbé Domenech considers the tradition of the

2 Brinton's Myths, pp. 180-3,
8 Helps' Span, Cong., vol. i., pp. 286-7,

270 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

lives of Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca to be a bit of sim-
ple and slightly veiled history, and also that there were
several Quetzalcoatls. Let it be remembered in reading
the abbé’s version of this matter that the names of places,
peoples, and the dates he gives are in great part myth-
ical and conjectural :—‘‘ After the enfranchisement of the
Olmecs, a man named Quetzalcoatl arrived in the coun-
try, whom Garcia, Torquemada, Sahagun, and other Span-
ish writers took to be Saint Thomas. It was also at that
time that the third age ended, and that the fourth began,
called Sun of the fire, because it was supposed that it was
in this last stage that the world would be destroyed by
fire.

It is in this fourth period that the Mexican historian
places the Toltecs’ arrival in New Spain, that is to say,
about the third century before the Christian era. Ac-
cording to the Quichés’ traditions, the primitive portion
of the Nahoas, or ancestors of the Toltecs, were in a dis-
tant East, beyond immense seas and lands, Amongst
the families and tribes that bore with least patience
this long repose and immobility, those of Canub, and of
Tlocab may be cited, for they were the first who deter-
mined to leave their country. The Nahoas sailed in
seven barks or ships, which Sahagun calls Chicomoztoc,
or the seven grottos. It is a fact worthy of note, that in
all ages the number seven was a sacred number among
the American people, from one pole to the other. It
was at Pdnuco, near Tampico, that those strangers dis-
embarked; they established themselves at Paxil, with
the Votanites’ consent, and their state took the name of
Huehue-Tlopallan. It is not stated from whence they
came, but merely that they came out of the regions
where the sun rises. ‘The supreme command was in the
hand of a chieftain, whon: history calls Quetzalcohuatl,
that is to say, Lord par xcellence, To his care was con-
fided the holy envelope, which concealed the divinity from
the human gaze, and he alone received from it the
necessary instructions to guide his people's march.
These kinds of divinities, thus onealienh passed for

celibas
fare a.
the he
the res
fused |
blood,
he hin
had be
went te
a long
lar diss
by Ceo
are ele

& per
Andhu
World,
The
paintin,
give, as
fect, an
* Quetz
Chalchi
ance or
was bor
4 Dom

THE CODICES ON QUETZALCOATL. 271

being sure talismans, and were looked upon with the
greatest respect and veneration. They consisted gener-
ally of a bit of wood, in which was inserted a little
idol of green stone; this was covered with the skin of a ser-
pent or of a tiger, after which it was rolled in numerous
little bands of stuff, wherein it would remain wrapped
for centuries together. Such is, perhaps, the origin of
the medicine bags made use of, even in the present day,
by the Indians of the Great Desert, and of which we shall
speak in the second volume of this work.”

Of apparently another Quetzalcoatl, he writes: ‘‘ The
Toltecs became highly flourishing under the reign of
Ceocatl Quetzalcohuatl, a Culhuacan prince, who preached
a new religion, sanctioning auricular confession and the
celibacy of the priests. He proscribed all kinds of war-
fare and human sacrifices. Tezcatlipoca put himself at
the head of the dissatisfied party, and besieged Tollan,
the residence of Ceocatl Quetzalcohuatl; but the latter re-
fused to defend himself, in order io avoid the effusion of
blood, which was prohibited by the laws of the religion
he himself had established, and retired to Cholula, that
had been constructed by his followers. From thence he
went to Yucatan. Tezcatlipoca, his fortunate rival, after
a long reign became in his turn the victim of the popu-
lar discontent, and fell in a battle that was given him
by Ceocatl Quetzalcohuatl’s relatives, Those two kings
are elevated to the rank of gods, and their worship was
a perpetual subject of discord and civil war in all
Andhuac until the arrival of the Spaniards in the New
World,” *

The interpreters of the different codices, or Mexican
paintings represented in Kingsborough’s great work,
give, as is their wont in all matters, a confused, imper-
fect, and often erroneous account of Quetzalcoatl:—
Quetzalcoatl is he who was born of the virgin, called
Chalchihuitztli, which means the precious stone of pen-
ance or of sacrifice. He was saved in the deluge, and
was born in Zivenaritzcatl where he resides. His fast

4 Domenech's Deserts, vol. i, pp. 82-8, 89

272 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

was a kind of preparation for the arrival of the end of the
world which they said would happen on the day of Four
Earthquakes, so that they were thus in daily expectation
of that event. Quetzalcoatl was he who they say created
the world, and they bestowed on him the appellation of
lord of the wind, because they said that Tonacatecotli,
when it appeared good to him, breathed and begat
Quetzalcoatl. They erected round temples to him, with-
out any corners. They said that it was he (who was
also the lord of the thirteen signs which are here repre-
sented), who formed the first man. He alone had a
human body like that of men, the other gods were of an
incorporeal nature.’ *

“They declare that their supreme deity, or more pro-
perly speaking, demon Tonacatecotle, whom we have
just mentioned, who by another name was called Citina-
tonali,... . begot Quetzalcoatl, not by connection with a
woman, but by his breath alone, as we have observed
above, when he sent his ambassador, as they say, to the
virgin of Tulla. They believed him to be the god of the
air, and he was the first to whom they built temples and
churches, which they formed perfectly round, without
any angles. They say it was he who effected the reform-
ation of the world by penance, as we have already said;
since, according to their account, his father had cre-
ated the world, and men had given themselves up to
vice, on which account it had been so frequently de-
stroyed. Citinatonali sent this his son into the world to
reform it. We certainly must deplore the blindness of
these miserable people, on whom Saint Paul says the
wrath of God has to be revealed, inasmuch as his eternal
truth was so long kept back by the injustice of attribut-
ing to this demon that which belonged to Him; for He
being the sole creator of the universe, and He wuo made
the division of the waters, which these poor people just
now attributed to the Devil, when it appeared good to
Him, dispatched the heavenly ambassador to announce

35 Explicacton del Codex sg 1 lig parte ii., lam. ii., in Ainys-
borough's Mea, Antig,, vol. v., pp. 185-6

to the
nal w
formec
for ou
whom
They |
thirtee
manne!
his fatl
rival of
Farthq
they fer
sign, as
the Red
As they

a solemr
J.G.)
national
ceptions
or adopte
professor
research
and as nc
accurate |
and so ¢
Opinion a
history of
The T
leaving tl
(that is
as the fi
Quetzalcor
at this plg
civil gover
wrote the

have been

leqasto;
Mex my tig, Vo}

Von,

MULLER ON QUETZALCOATL. 278

to the virgin that she should be the mother of his eter-
nal word; who, when He found the world corrupt, re-
formed it by doing penance and by dying upon the cross
for our sins; and not the wretched Quetzalcoatl, +o
whom these miserable people attributed this work.
They assigned to him the dominion over the other
thirteen signs, which are here represented, in the same
manner as they had assigned the preceding thirteen to
his father. They celebrated a great festival on the ar-
rival of his sign, as we shall see in the sign of Four
Earthquakes, which is the fourth in order here, because
they feared that the world would be destroyed in that
sign, as he had foretold to them when be disappeared in
the Red Sea; which event occurred ca the same sign.
As they considered him their advocate, they celebrated
a solemn festival, and fasted during four signs.” *

J.G. Miiller holds Quetzalcoatl to be the representative
national god of the Toltecs, surviving under many miscon-
ceptions and amid many incongruities,—bequeathed to
or adopted into the later Mexican religion. ‘lhe learned
professor has devoted an unusual amount of care and
research to the interpretation of the Quetzalcoatl myths;
and as no other inquirer has shown therein at once so
accurate and extensive an acquaintance with the subject
and so calm and judicious a judgment, we give his
opinion at length, and first his summing up of the fable-
history of Quetzalcoatl :——

The Toltecs, a traditional pre-historic people, after
leaving their orignal northern home Huehuetlapallan
(that is Old-red-land) chose Tulla, north of Andhuac
as the first capital of their newly founded kingdom.
Quetzalcoat! was their high-priest and religious chief
at this place. Huemac, or Huematzin, conducted the
civil government as the companion of Quetzalcoatl, and
wrote the code of the nation. Quetzalcoatl is said to
have been a white man (some gave hiin a bright red

Splavarions delle Tavole del Codtce Mexicano, tav. xli., Kingsborough's
n °

% 9
Mex, q., vol. V., pp, 184-6.
Von, III, 18

274 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

face), with a strong formation of body, broad forehead,
large eyes, black hair, and a heavy beard. He always
wore a long white robe; which, according to Gomara,
was decorated with crosses; he had a mitre on his head
and a sickle in his hand. At the volcano of Cotcitepec,
‘or Tzatzitepec, near Tulla, he practised long and numer-
ous penances, giving thereby an example to his priests
and successors. The name of this volcano means “the
mountain of outcry;’ and when Quetzalcoatl gave
laws, he sent a crier to the top of it whose voice
could be heard three hundred miles off. He did
what the founders of religions and cults have done
in other countries: he taught the people agriculture,
metallurgy, stone-cutting, and the art of government.
He also arranged the calendar, and taught his subjects
fit religious ceremonies; preaching specially against
human sacrifices, and ordering offerings of fruits and
flowers only. He would have nothing to do with wars,
even covering his ears when the subject was mentioned.
His was a veritable golden age, as in the time of Saturn;
animals and even men lived in peace, the soil produced
the richest harvests without cultivation, and the grain
grew so large that a man found it trouble enough to
carry one ear; no cotton was dyed, as it grew of all
colors, and fruits of all kinds abounded. Hverybody
was rich and Quetzalcoatl owned whole palaces of gold,
silver, and precious stones. The air was filled with the
most pleasant aromas, and a host of finely feathered
birds filled the world with melody.

But this earthly happiness came to an end. Tezcat-
lipoca rose up against Quetzalcoatl and against Huemac,
in order to separate them, and to destroy their govern-
ment. He descended from the sky on a rope of spider-
web and commenced to work for his object with the aid
of magic arts. He first appeared in the form of a hand-
Bome youth (and in the dress of a merchant), dressed as
a merchant selling pepper-pods, and presented himself
before the daughter of king Huemac, He soon seduced
the princess, and thereby opened the road to a general

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TRAVELS OF QUETZALCOATL. 2765
immorality and a total collapse of the laws. He pre-
sented himself before Quetzalcoatl in the form of an old
man, with the view of inducing him to depart to his
home in Tlapalla. For this purpose he offered him a
drink which he pretended would endow him with im-
mortality. No sooner had Quetzalcoatl taken the drink,
then he was seized with a violent desire to see his father-
land. He destroyed the palaces of gold, silver, and pre-
cious stones, transformed the fruit-trees into withered
trunks, and ordered all song-birds to leave the country,
and to accompany him. Thus he departed, and the birds
entertained him during his journey with their songs.

He first traveled southward, and arrived in Quauh-
titlan, in Andhuac. In the vicinity of this town he
broke down a tree by throwing stones, the stones remain-
ing in the trunk. Farther south, in the same valley,
near T'lalnepantla, or Tanepantla, he pressed hand and
foot into a rock with such force that the impression has
remained down to the latest centuries, in the same man-
ner as the mark of the shoes of the horses of Castor and
Pollux near Regillum. The Spaniards were inclined
to ascribe these and similar freaks of nature to the A pos-
tle Thomas.

Quetzalcoatl now turned toward the east, and arrived
in Cholula, where he had to remain for a longer period,
as the inhabitants intrusted him with the government of
their state. The same order of things which had taken
place in Tulla, his first residence, was here renewed.
From this centre his rule spread far and wide; he sent
colonists from Cholula to Huaxayacac, ‘Tabasco and Cam-
peche, and the nobility of Yucatan prided themselves on
their descent from him; men having been found in our
time who bear his name, just as the descendants of Vo-
tan bore the name of Votan in Chiapas. In Cholula it-
self he was adored, and temples were everywhere erected
in his honor, even by the enemies of theCholulans, After
a residence of twenty years in Cholula, he proceeded on
his journey toward Tlalpalla until he arrived at the
river and in the province of Coatzacoalco, or Goasacoal-

276 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

co, Guasacualco, that is Hiding-nook of the snake—south
of Vera Cruz. He now sent the four youths, who had
accompanied him from Cholula, back to the Cholulans,
promising to return later on and renew the old govern-
ment. The Cholulans plazed the four youths at the head
of their government, out of love for him. This hope of
his return still existed among the Mexican nations at the
time of Cortés’ arrival. In fact, Cortés was at first held
to be the returning Quetzalcoatl, and a man was sacrificed
to him, with whose blood the conqueror and his com-
panions were marked. Father Sahagun was also asked,
by everybody on his journey to Mexico, if he and his suite
came from Tlapalla. According to Montezuma’s account
to Cortés, Quetzalcoatl really did once return to Cholula,
but after such a length of time that he found his subjects
married to the native women, having children, and so
numerous that a number of new districts had to be
founded. This new race would not recognize their old
chief, and refused to obey him. He thereupon departed
angrily, threatening to return at another time and to
subdue them by force. It is not remarkable that an
expectation, which was a hope to the Cholulans, should
be.a dread to Montezuma and his subjects.

According to some accounts, Quetzalcoatl died in the
Hiding-nook of the snakes, in the Goatzacoalco country;
according to others, he suddenly disappeared toward the
east, and a ship, formed of snakes wound together,
brought him to Tlapalla.

A closer view and criticism of this tale, in the light of
the analogy of mythological laws, shows us that Quetzal-
coat] is the euhemerized religious ideal of the Toltecan
nations. The similarity of this tale with those of Man-
co Capac, Botschika, Saturn, and others, is at once ap-

rent, The opinion of Prescott, Wuttke, and many
others, who held him for a deified man, founder of
religion and of a civilization, is confirmed by the latest
version of the fable, in which Quetzalcoatl is represented
in this character. Although euhemerism is an old idea
with all people, as well as with the Americans,—per-

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QUETZALCOATL AND THE TOLTECS. 277

sonification being the first step toward it,—the general
reasons which everywhere appear against the existence
of such founders of a civilization must also be made to
speak against this idea of Quetzalcoatl.

If a special value is placed upon the white face and
the beard, it must be remembered that the beard, which
is given to the Mexican priests, could not be omitted
with Quetzalcoatl; and the mention by some of his hav-
ing had a white face, and by others a red, might arouse
a suspicion that Quetzalcoatl has been represented as a
white man on account of his white robe.

The fable of Quetzalcoatl contains contradictions, the
younger elements of which are a pure idealism of the
more ancient. For instance, the statement that the
earth produced everything spontaneously, without hu-
man labor, does not agree with the old version of the
myth, according to which Quetzalcoatl taught agricul-
ture and other industries requiring application and hard
work. ‘The sentimental love of peace has also been at-
tributed to this god in later times, during a time when the
Toltecs had lost the martial spirit of their victorious ances-
tors, and when the Cholulans, given to effeminacy, dis-
tinguished themselves more by cunning than by courage.
The face of the god is represented, in the fable, as more
beautiful and attractive, than it is depicted on the images.
At the place where he was most worshiped, in Cholula,
the statute of Quetzalcoatl stood in his temple, on the
summit of the great pyramid. Its features had a
gloomy cast, and differed from the beautiful face which
is said to have been his on earth.

The fable shows its later idealized elements in these
points. In all other respects, the Toltecan peculiarities of
the entire nation are either clearly and faithfully de-
picted in their hero, as in a porsonified ideal, or else the
original attributes of the nature deity are recognizable.
Where the Toltecs were, there vas he also, or a hero
identical with him; the Toltecs who journeyed south-
ward are colonists sent by him; the Toltecs capitals,
Tulla and Cholula, are his residences; and as the laws

278 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

of the Toltecs extended far and wide, so did the voice
of his crier reach three hundred miles into the country.
The arts and welfare of the Toltecs, their riches and re-
ligious feeling, even their later unwarlike peacefulness,
all these attributes are transferred to Quetzalcoatl. The
long robe of the Toltecs was also the dress of their
hero; the necktie of the boys of his religious order is
attached to his image; and, as his priests wore the
mitre, he is also represented with it. He is, above all,
depicted as the original model of the Toltec priests, the
Tlamacazque (the order was called Tlamacazcojotl), whose
chief, or superior, always bore the name of Quetzalcoatl.
As these orders of his had to submit to the strictest ob-
servances,—their members having to slit the tongue,
ears and lips in honor of Quetzalcoatl, and the small
boys being set apart for him by making an incision on
their breasts——so he submitted, before all others, to
these penances on the Tzatzitipec Mountain. These self-
inflicted punishments must not be termed penances, as
is often done, for they have no moral meaning, such as to
do penance for committed sins, nor have they the mystic
meaning of the East Indian idea of the end of the
world (Weltabsterben) and the return to the pantheistic
chaos (Urall and Urnichts); all this is foreign to the
American religion. They are, on the contrary, blood-
Offerings, substitutes for the human sacrifices in the
background, to obtain earthly blessings, and to avert
earthly misfortunes. As Quetzalcoatl preached against
human sacrifices, so his priests under the Aztec rule,
were very reluctant to make them. After the gr st
slaughter by Cortés, in Cholula, Montezuma procecaed
to the great temple of Huitzilopochtli, made many
human sacrifices, and questioned the god, who bade him
to be of good heart, and assured him that the Cholulans
had suffered so terribly merely on account of their re-
luctance to offer up human beings.
As the disappearance of the Toltecs toward the south
and the south-east agrees with the disappearance of
Quetzalcoatl, so we find many traits from the end of the

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QUETZALCOATL A NATURE-DEITY. 279

last Toltec king reproduced in the end of the Toltec hero,
After the defeat of king Tlolpintzin, he (Tlolpintzin)
fled southward, toward Tlapalla. He made use of these
words, in his last farewell to his friends: I have retired
toward the east, but will return after 5012 years to
avenge myself on the descendants of mine enemies,
After having lived thirty years in Tlapalla, he died.
His laws were afterward accepted by Nezalhualcoyotzin.
The belief that Tlolpintzin stayed with Nezalhualcoy-
otzin, and some other brave kings, in the cave of Xicco,
after death, like the three Tells of Switzerland, but
would at some time come out and deliver his people, was
long current among the Indians. Every one will notice
how well this agrees with Montezuma’s account of the re-
turn of Quetzalcoatl.

Quezatleoatl cannot, however, be a representative and
a national god of the Toltecs, without having an original
nature-basis for his existence as wu god. It is every-
where the case among savaves with their national god,
that the latter is a nature-deity, who becomes gradually
transformed into a national god, then into a national
king, high-priest, founder of a religion, and at last ends
in being considered a human being. The older and purer
the civilization of a people is, the easier it is to recognise
the original essence of its national god, in spite of all
transformations and disguises. So it is here. Behind
the human form of the god glimmers the nature shape,
and the national god is known by, perhaps, all his wor-
shipers as also a nature deity. From his powerful
influence upon nature, he might also be held as the
creator.

The pure human form of this god, as it appears in the
fable, as well as in the image, is not the original, but
the youngest. His oldest concrete forms are taken from
nature, to which he originally belongs, and have
maintained themselves in many attributes. All these
symbolize him as the god of fertility, chiefly, as it is
made apparent, by means of the beneficial influence of
the air. All Mexican and European statements make

280 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

him appear as the god of the air and of the wind; even
the euhemeristic idea deifies che man Quetzalcoatl into
a god of the air. All the Mexican tribes adored him at
the time of the conquest as god of the air, and all ac-
counts, however much they may differ on the particular
points of his poetical life, agree, without exception, in
this one respect, as the essential and chief point. Be-
sides the symbols, which are merely attached to the
image, there are three attributes, which represent as
many original visible forms and exteriors of the god, in
which he is represented and worshiped: the sparrow, the
flint (Feuerstein), and the snake.

According to Herrera, the image of Quetzalcoatl had
the body of a man, but the head of a bird, a sparrow
with a red bill, a large comb, and with the tongue hang-
ing far out of the mouth. The air-god of these northern
people, parallel to Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec Huitzilopochtli,
was represented with devices connected with the hum-
ming-bird, in remembrance of his former humming-bird
nature. This isthe northern element. The great spirit
of the northern redskins also appear in his most esteemed
form as a bird. The Latin Picus was originally a wood-
pecker (Specht), afterward anthropomorphized and even
euhemerized, but he has ever the woodpecker by his side,
in his capacity of human seer. Several Egyptian gods
have human bodies and animal heads, especially heads of
birds. Birds are not alone symbols of particular godlike
attributes, as used in the anthropomorphic times, not mere
messengers and transmitters of the orders of the gods, but
they have originally been considered as gods themselves,
with forms of godlike powers, especially in North
America; and the exterior of the god of the air, the
fructifying air, is naturally that of a bird, a singing-
bird. The hieroglyphic sign among the Mexicans for
the air is, therefore, the head of a bird with three tongues.
Wherever Quetzalcoatl stayed and ruled, there birds
filled the air, and song-birds gave indication of their
presence; when he departed, he took them with him,
and was entertained during the journey by their singing.

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QUETZALCOATL AND THE FLINT. 281

A second form of Quetzalcoatl was the flint, which
we have already learned to know as a symbol and
hieroglyphic sign for the air. He was either repre-
sented as a black stone, or several small green ones,
supposed to have fallen from heaven, most likely serolites,
which were adored by the Cholulans in the service of
Quetzaleoatl. Bétancourt even explains the meaning of
the name Quetzalcoatl, contrary to the usual definition,
as “twin of a precious stone.” The fable of Quauhtit-
lan is also connected with this stone-worship; how Quet-
zalcoatl had overthrown a tree by means of stones which
remained fixed in it. These stones were later on adored
as holy stones of Quetzalcoatl. The stone at Tlalnepan-
tla, into which he pressed his hand, must also have rep-
presented the god himself. Similar ancient stone-wor-
ships, of greater nature deities as well as fetiches, were
found, in many instances, in Peru, in the pre-Inca times,
In ancient Central America we meet with the worship
of such green stones called chalchihuites, Votan was
worshiped in the form of such a green stone, connected
with the other two attributes. This attribute of Quet-
zalcoatl most likely belongs to the south.

The third form of Quetzalcoatl, which also belongs to
the south, is the snake; he is a snake-god, or, at least,
merged into an ancient snake-god. The snake is not, as
far as I know, a direct symbol of the air, and this attri-
bute is, therefore, not the one pertaining to him from
the beginning; but the snake represents the season which,
in conjunction with heat and rain, contains the fructify-
ing influence of the atmosphere, spring, the rejuvenating
year. However, the very name of the god signifies,
according to the usual explanation given to it, ‘the
feathered snake, the snake covered with feathers, the
green feathered-snake, the wood-snake with rich feath-
ers,” A snake has consequently been added to the
human figure of this god. The other name, under which
he is adored in Yucatan, is Cuculcan, a snake covered
with godlike feathers, The entrance to his round temple
in Mexico represented the jaw and fangs of a tremen-

282 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

dous snake. Quetzalcoatl disappeared in Goatzacoalco,
the Snake-corner (or nook), and a ship of snakes brought
him to Tlapalla. His followers in Yucatan were called
snakes, Cocome (plural of Coatl), while he himself bore
the name of Cocolcan in this country as well as in Chia-

as. The snake attribute signifies, in connection with
Huitzilopochtli, also the beneficial influence of the atmos-
phere, the yearly renewed course of nature, the continu-
al rejuvenation of nature in germs and blossoms. The
northern celestial god, Odin, is in many ways connected
with snakes, he transformed himself into a snake, and
bore the by-name of Snake.

The relationship of Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, as
given in the fable, may be touched upon here. The
driving away of the latter by Tezcatlipoca does not, as
may be supposed, signify a contest between the Aztec
religion and the preceding Toltecan. In such a case
Huitzilopochtli, the chief of the Aztec gods, by whose
adoration the contrast is painted in the deepest colors,
would have been a much better representant.

Quetzalcoatl no doubt preached against human sacri-
fices, brought into such unprecedented swing by the
Aztecs, yet the worshipers of this god adopted the sacri-
fice of human beings in an extensive way during the
Aztec rule, to which period this part of the Quetzalcoatl
fable necessarily owes its origin. At this time the con-
trast was so slight that Quetzalcoatl partook of the high-
est adoration of Aztecs, not only in Cholula, but in
Mexico and everywhere, His priest enjoyed the highest
esteem and his temple in Mexico stood by the side of
that of Huitzilopochtli. Montezuma not only calls the
Toltec hero a leader of his forefathers, but the Aztecs
actually consider him as a son of Huitzilopochtli, The
opposition of the two gods, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca,
has another reason: the difference lies not in their wor-
ship, but in their nature and being, in the natural phe-
nomena which they represent. If the god of the beneficial
atmosphere, the manifested god-power of the atmosphere
of the fructifying seasons, is adored in Quetzalcoatl ; then

QUETZALCOATL AND THE SNAKE. 2838

Tezcatlipoca is his opposite, the god of the gloomy lower
regions destitute of life and germ, the god of drouth, of
withering, of death.

Wherever, therefore, Quetzalcoatl rules, there are riches
and abundance, the air is filled with fragrance and song-
birds—an actual golden era; but when he goes south-
ward with his song-birds, he is expelled by Tezcatlipoca,
drouth sets in, and the palaces of gold, silver, and pre-
cious stones, symbols of wealth, are destroyed. He
promises, however, everywhere to return. A represen-
tation mentioned and copied by Humboldt, shows Tez-
catlipoca in the act of cutting up the snake. This
has not the meaning of the acts of Hercules, of Ton-
atiuh, of the great spirit of the Chippewas, of the Ger-
man Siegfried, of the Celtic dragon-killers Tristan and
Iwein, or of the other sun-gods, spring-gods, and culture-
heroes, who fight and subdue the snake of the unfertile
moisture; such an interpretation would be opposed to the
nature of this god. On the contrary, the god of death
and drouth here fights the snake as the symbol of mois-
ture, of the fertilization of the plant-life.

The question now arises: if Quetzalcoatl only received
his snake attribute in the south, and this his name, what
was his original northern and Toltecan name? We
answer, coinciding with the views expressed by Ixtlil-
xochitl and others, who affirm that Quetzalcoatl and his
worldly companion, Huemac, were one and the same
person, The opposed opinion of Ternaux-Compans,
who states that Quetzalcoatl must have been an Olmec,
while Huemac was a Toltec, actually gives the key to
the solution of the question. Both are right, Ixtlilxo-
chitl and Ternaux, Huemac is the original Toltec name
of the Toltec national god, ruler, and author of the
holy books, the ancient name used by the Toltecs, As
this people succumbed more and more to southern influ-
ences, and their ancient air-god in his sparrow form re-
ceived in addition the snake attribute, on account of
his rejuvenating influence upon nature, then, the new
name of the more cultivated people soon appeared.

284 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP?

The name may, therefore, be Olmec, but not’ the god;
we may sooner suppose that the attributes of the Maya
god, Votan, have been transferred to the Toltec god.
Both names having thus a double origin; the legend
which found two names, made also two persons of them,
and placed them side by side. It is, however, easy to
see that they are naturally one: Huemac has just as
much a religious signification as Quetzalcoatl; as Hue-
matzin, he wrote the divine book, containing all the
earthly and heavenly wisdom of the Toltecs. Quetzal-
coatl has, in the same degree, besides his religious posi-
tion, the worldly one of ruler and founder of a civili-
zation. As Quetzalcoatt possesses a divine nature, so
does Huemac, to whom also are ascribed the three hun-
dred years of life, and the impression of the hand in the
rock.

Besides the attributes of the sparrow, flint, and snake,
there are others which ascribe to Quetzalcoatl the same
properties, but less prominently. As god of the air,
he holds the wonderfully painted shield in his hand, a
symbol of his power over the winds. As god of the fer-
tilizing influence of the air, he holds, like Saturn, the
sickle, symbol of the harvest——he it is that causes the
grain to ripen. It used to be said that he prepared the
way for the water-god, for in these regions, the rains
are always preceded by winds. It was on account of
this intimate connection with the rain, which had
already procured him the snake attribute, that his
mantle was adorned with crosses, We have already seen
that such crosses represented the rain-god with the
Mayas, and are symbols of the fructifying rain. Con-
sequently they are well suited for the god who is only
air-god in the sense of the air exercising its fructifying
and invigorating influence upon the earth.

Another question, which has already occurred to us,
must here be considered. Why did this god come from
the east, depart toward the east, and wi.,” should he be
expected from the east? The Toltecs have, according
to almost unanimous statements, come from the north,

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QUETZALCOATL AND THE TRADE-WINDS. 285

and even Quetzalcoatl commences his rule in the north,
in Tulla, and proceeds gradually on his journey from the
north to the south-east, just like the Toltecs, who trav-
eled southward from Tulla. It is plain that he departs
for the east, because this is his home, from which he came
and will return. His eastern origin is, no doubt, based
upon the direction of the eastern trade-winds, which
carry rain «nd, with it, fertility to the interior of Cen-
tral America. The rains began three or four weeks
earlier in Vera Cruz, Tampico, and Tabasco than in
Puebla and Mexico, Another reason, which has, how-
ever, a certain connection with the above, may be the
relationship of the god of air and the sun-god, who often
assumed an equal position in nature and in worship.
We know that the founders of the Peruvian and Muys-
can cults come from the east, because they are sun-gods.
Quetzalcoatl is not such a deity, it is true, but the ferti-
lizing air-god is also in other places closely connected
with the fructifying sun, as, for example Huitzilopochtli,
Odin, and Brama, The sun is his eye. This connection
with the sun, Montezuma referred to when he spoke in
the presence of Cortés of the departure of Quetzalcoatl
for the regions from which the sun comes, As the
sun is the eye of heaven, to whom the heart of the vic-
tim sacriticed to the god of heaven is presented, so it is
at night with the moon, to whom the same tribute was
paid at the feast of Quetzalcoatl. I merely refer to this
here to show the conncction of the air-god with the great
heavenly bodies.

Several other significations are attached to the idea of
an air-god. Itis natural that the god of heavenly bless-
ing should also be the god of wealth. All wealth depends
originally upon the produce of the soil, upon ti.e blessing
of heaven, however world) —_;. cpiniori of the matter may
be. Gold is merely the symbol of this wealth, like the
golden shower of Zeus. The image of Quetzalcoatl was,
therefore, according to Acosta, adorned with gold, silver,
jewels, rich feathers, and gay dresses, to illustrate his
wealth. For this reason he wore a golden helmet,

286 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND’ WORSHIP.

and his sceptre was decorated with costly stones. The
same view is also the basis of the myths of the ancients
about snakes and dragons guarding treasures. The
fact that the merchants of Cholula worshiped the god of
wealth before all others, and as their chief deity, requires
no explanation. *

His worship in Cholula was conducted as follows:
Forty days before the festival, the merchants bought a
spotless slave, who was first taken to bathe in a lake
called the Lake of the Gods, then dressed up as the
god Quetzalcoatl, whom he had to represent for forty
days. During this time he enjoyed the same adoration
as was given to the god: he was set upon a raised
place, presented with flowers, and fed on the choicest
viands. He was, however, well guarded during the
night, so that he might not escape. During his exhibition
through the town, he danced and sang, and the women and
children ran out of their houses to salute him and make
him presents. This continued until nine days before the
end of the forty days. Then two old priests approached
him in all humility, saying, in deep voice: Lord, know
that in nine days thy singing and dancing will cease, be-
cause thou must die! If he continued of good spirit, and
inclined to dance and sing, it was considered a good omen,
if the contrary, a bad one. In the latter case they pre-
pared him a drink of blood and cacao, which was to ob-
literate the remembrance of the past conversation.
After drinking this, it was hoped that he would resume
his former good humor. On the day of the festival
still greater honors were shown him, music sounded and
incense was burnt. At last, at the midnight hour, he
was sacrificed, the heart was torn out of his body,
held up to the moon, and then thrown toward the image
of the god. The body was cast down the steps of the
temple, and served the merchants, especially the slave-
dealers, for a sacrificial meal. This feast and sacrifice
took place every year, but after a certain number of
cycles, as in the divine year, Teoxihuitl, they were cele-
brated with much more pomp. Quetzalcoatl had, gene-

Miille
neithe
of lig
it is 3
but or
the ea

7 Mii
regardin,
bourg, P

QUETZALCOATL AS A HEALING GOD. 287

rally, his human sacrifices during the Aztec rule, as well
as the other gods.

The power which reéstablishes the macrocosm, heals
and rejuvenates the microcosm also: it is the general
healing power. With the good weather thousands of
invalids are restored, and refreshing rains not only re-
vive the thirsty plains of the tropics, but man himself.
Thus the air-god, the at:nosphere, becomes a healing
god, A Phoenician told Pausanius that the snake god,
Aisculapius, signified the health-restoring air. If this
god of heaven is also a snake-god, like Quetzalcoatl, the
rejuvenating and reinvigorating power of nature is ex-
pressed in a clear parallelism.

The snake-god is also a healing god, and even the
Greek ANsculapius cannot dispense with the snake.
It is, thus, not to be wondered at that the sterile women
of the Mexican peoples directed their prayers to Quetzal-
coatl.

This concludes the able summing-up presented by
Miiller, and it is given as I give all theoretical matter,
neither accepting nor rejecting it, as simply another ray
of light bent in upon the god Quetzalcoatl, whose nature
t is not proposed here to either explain or illustrate,
but only to reproduce, as regarded from many sides by
the earliest and closest observers.

37 Miiller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, pp. 577-590. Some further notes
regarding this i from a different point, may be found in Brasseur de Bour-
bourg, Palenqué, pp.40 etc., 66 etc.

CHAPTER VIII.

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Various accounts oF THE BrrtH, Onicin, AND DERIVATION OF THE NAME
oF THE Mexican War Gop, Horrzi.opocutii, oF HIs TEMPLE, IMAGE,
CEREMONIAL, FESTIVALS, AND HIS DEPUTY, OR PAGE, PAYNAL—CLAVIGE-
rno—Borvunrin1 —-- Acosta — Sonis— SanaGun — HFurera —- ToRQUEMADA
—J.G. Mittuer’s Summary or THE Houirzinopocntitr Mytss, THEIR
Ortain, RELATION, AND S1GNIFIcATION—TyLorn — CopEx Vaticanus—
Txiatoc, Gop oF WATER, ESPECIALLY OF Rarn, AND OF MountTarns—
CiavicERO, GAMA, AND IxTLILxocHITL — PRAYER IN TIME OF DrovaGHtT
—CaMARGO, MotoxiniA, MENDIETA, AND THE VATICAN CoDEX ON THE
SacriFices To TLALOC—THE DECORATIONS OF HIS VICTIMS AND THE PLACES
OF THEIR ExxcuTION—GATHERING RusHES FOR THE SERVICE OF THE
Water Gop — Hiauway RospBERies BY THE PRIESTS AT THIS TIMK—
DECORATIONS AND IMPLEMENTS OF THE PRIESTS—PUNISHMENTS FOR CERE-
MONIAL OFreNceEsS— THE WHIRLPOOL oF PANTITLAN— IMAGES OF THE
Mountains IN HONOR OF THE TLALOO FESTIVAL — OF THE COMING RAIN
AND MUTILATION OF THE IMAGES OF THE MounTAINS—GENERAL Promi-
NENCE IN THE CULT oF TLALOC, oF THE NUMBER Four, THE Cross,

AND THE SNAKE.

Huitzilopochtli, Huitziloputzli, or Vitziliputzli, was
the god of war and the especially national god of the
Mexicans. Some said that he was a purely spiritual
being, others that a woman had borne him after mirac-
ulous conception. This legend, following Clavigero, ran
as follows:

In the ancient city of Tulla, lived a most devout
woman, Coatlicue by name. Walking one day in the
temple as her custom was, she saw a little ball of feath-
ers floating down from heaven, which, taking without

annus
and |
years,
centui
of an
corner
was b]
while
head,
like th
ing of.
& large
Appeare
cross, a
flag wit
have b
glorious

BIRTH OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI. 289

thought, she put into her bosom. The walk being ended,
however, she could not find the ball, and wondered
much, all the more that soon after this she found her-
self pregnant. She had already many children, who
now, to avert this dishonor of their house, conspired to
kill her; at which she was sorely troubled. But, from
the midst of her womb the god spoke: Fear not, O my
mother, for this danger will I turn to our great honor
and glory. And lo, Huitzilopochtli, perfect as Pallas
Athena, was instantly born, springing up with a mighty
war-shout, grasping the shield and the glittering spear.
His left leg and his head were adorned with plumes of
green; his face, arms, and thighs barred terribly with
lines of blue. He fell upon the unnatural children, slew
them all, and endowed his mother with their spoils. And
from that day forth his names were Tezahuitl, Terror, and
Tetzauhteotl, Terrible god.

This was the god who became protector of the Mexi-
cans, who conducted them so many years in their pil-
grimage, and settled them at last on the site of Mexico.
And in this city they raised him that proud temple so
much celebrated even by the Spaniards, in which were
annually held their solemn festivals, in the fifth, ninth,
and fifteenth months; besides those kept every four
years, every thirteen years, and at the beginning of every
century. His statue was of gigantic size, in the posture
of a man seated on a blue-colored bench, from the four
corners of which issued four huge snakes. His forehead
was blue, but his face was covered with a golden mask,
while another of the same kind covered the back of his
head. Upon his head he carried a beautiful crest, shaped
like the beak of a bird; upon his neck a collar consist-
ing of ten figures of the human heart; in his right hand,
a large, blue, twisted club; in his left, a shield, on which
appeared five balls of feathers disposed in the form of a
cross, and from the upper part of the shield rose a golden
fag with four arrows, which the Mexicans pretended to
have been sent to them from heaven to perform those

glorious actions which we have seen in their history. His
Von, III, 19

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

290

body was girt with a large golden snake, and adorned with
various lesser figures of animals made of gold and pre-
cious stones, which ornaments and insignia had each their
peculiar meaning. They never deliberated upon making
war without imploring the protection of this god, with
prayers and sacrifices; and offered up a greater number
of human sacrifices to him than to any other of the gods.’

A different account of the origin of this deity is given
by Botiiini, showing the god to have been a brave Mexi-
can chief, who was afterward apotheosized :—

While the Mexicans were pushing their conquests and
their advance toward the country now occupied by them,
they had a very renowned captain, or leader, called
Huitziton. He it was that in these long and perilous
journeys through unknown lands, sparin,, himself no
fatigue, took care of the Mexicans. The fable says of
him that being full of years and wisdom he was one
night caught up in sight of his army, and of all his
people, and presented to the god Tezauhteotl, that is to
say the Frightful God, who, being in the shape of a
horrible dragon, commanded him to be seated at his
right hand, saying: Welcome, O valiant captain; very
grateful am I for thy fidelity in my service and in gov-
erning my people. It is time that thou shouldest rest,
since thou art already old, and since thy great deeds
raise thee up to the fellowship of the immortal gods.
Return then to thy sons and tell them not to be afflicted
if in future they cannot see thee as a mortal man; for
from the nine heavens thou shalt look down propitious
upon them. And not only that, but also, when I strip
the vestments of humanity from thee, I will leave to
thine afflicted and orphan people thy bones and thy
skull so that they may be comforted in their sorrow, and
may consult thy relics as to the road they have to fol-
low: and in due time the land shall be shown them that

1 Huitzilopochtli is derived from two words; huilzilin, the humming-bird,
and opochili, left,—so called from the left foot of his image being decorated
ae humming-bird feathers. Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Messico, tom, ii., pp.

a banc
vpon |
the be:
toppe '
left he
apples,
above
hadde
beene ;
which
azured
those o
* Botus

IMAGE OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI. 291

I have destined for them, a land in which they shall
hold wide empire, being respected of the other nations.

Huitziton did according to these instructions, and after
a sorrowful interview with his people, disappeared,
carried away by the gods. The weeping Mexicans re-
mained with the skull and bones of their beloved captain,
which they carried with them till they arrived in New
Spain, and at the place where they built the great city
of Tenochtitlan, or Mexico. All this time the devil
spoke to them through this skull of Huitziton, often asking
for the immolation of men and women, from which
thing originated those bloody sacrifices, practiced after-
wards by this nation with so much cruelty on prisoners
of war. This deity was called, in early as well as in
later times, Huitzilopochtli,—for the principal men be-
lieved that he was seated at the left hand of Tezcatlipoca,
—a man derived from the original name Huitziton, and
from the word mapoche, ‘left hand.’ ?

Acosta gives a minute description of the image and
temple of this god :—

‘The chiefest idoll of Mexico was, as I have sayde,
Vitziliputzli. It was an image of wood like to a man,
set vpon a stoole of the colour of azure, in a b::inkard or
litter, at every corner was a piece of wood in forme of a
Serpent's head. The stoole signified that he was set in
heaven: this idoll hadde all the forehead azure, and had
a band of azure vader the nose from one eare to another:
vpon his head he had a rich plume of feathers, like to
the beake of a small bird, the which was covered on the
toppe with golde burnished very browne: hee had in his
left hand a white target, with the figures of five pine
apples, made of white feathers, set in a crosse: and from
above issued forth a crest of gold, and at his sides hee
hadde foure dartes, which (the Mexicaines say) had
beene sent from heaven to do those actes and prowesses
which shall be spoken of: In his right hand he had an
azured staffe, cutte in fashion of a waving snake. All
those ornaments with the rest hee had, carried his sence

* Boturini, Idea de una Hist., pp. 60-1.

292 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

as the Mexicaines doe shew; the name of Vitziliputzli
signifies the left hand of a shining feather. I will
speake heereafter of the prowde Temple, the sacrifices,
feasts and ceremonies of this great idoll, being very
notable things. But at this present we will only shew,
that this idoll thus richly appareled and deckt, was set
vpon an high Altare, in a small peece or boxe, well
covered with linnen clothes, jewells, feathers and orna.
ments of golde, with many rundles of feathers, the fairest
and most exquisite that could be found: hee had alwaies
@ curtine before him for the greater veneration. loyning
to the chamber or chappell of this idoll, there was a
peece of lesse worke, and not so well beautified, where
there was another idoll they called Tlaloc. These two
idolls were alwayes together, for that they held them as
companions, and of equal power.

There was in Mexico, this Cu, the famous Temple
of Vitziliputzli, it had a very great circuite, and within
a faire Court. It was built of great stones, in fashion of
snakes tied one to another, and the circuite was called
Coatepantli, which is, a circuite of snakes: vppon the
toppe of every chamber and oratorie where the Idolls
were, was a fine piller wrought with small stones, blacke
as ieate, set in goodly order, the ground raised vp with
white and red, which below gave a great light. Vpon
the top of the pillar were battlements very artificially
made, wrought like snailes [caracoles], supported by two
Indians of stone, sitting, holding candlesticks in their
hands, the which were like Croisants garnished and en-
riched at the ends, with yellow and greene feathers and
long fringes of the same. Within the circuite of this
court, there were many chambers of religious men, and
others that were appointed for the service of the Priests
and Popes, for so they call the soveraign Priests which
serve the Idoll.

There were foure gates or entries, at e east, west,
north, and south; at every one of these ga ‘s beganne a
faire cawsey of two or three leagues long. ‘here was in
the midst of the lake where the cittie of Me ico is built,

four
it;
havi
the
stepp
the c
them
thirti
mids
of ve
anoth
with
were jj
which
Vpon
of scul
This P
end to
full sig
such as
and hac
Ministe
vntil th
to set
temple 1
the two
his comry
graven 1
it, there
these Ch
foote squ
five hand
was plac
laid on tl
80 they |
shall shey

3 Acosta, |
the wanderin
guided them
the wilderne;

TEMPLE OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI. 293

foure large cawseies in crosse, which did much beautify
it; vpon every portall or entry, was a God or Idoll,
having the visage turned to the causey, right against
the Temple gate of Vitziliputzli. There were thirtie
steppes of thirtie fadome long, and they divided from
the circuit of the court by a streete that went betwixt
them; vpon the toppe of these steppes there was a walke
thirtie foote broad, all plaistered with chalke, in the
midst of which walke was a Pallisado artificially made
of very high trees, planted in order a fadome one from
another. These trees were very bigge, and all pierced
with small holes from the foote to the top, and there
were roddes did runne from one tree to another, to the
which were chained or tied many dead mens heades,
Vpon every rod were twentie sculles, 2nd these ranckes
of sculles continue from the foote to the toppe of the tree,
This Pallissado was full of dead mens sculls from one
end to the other, the which was a wonderfull mourne-
ful! sight and full of horror. These were the heads of
such as had beene sacrificed; for after they were dead,
and had eaten the flesh, the head was delivered to the
Ministers of the Temple, which tied them in this sort
vntil they fell off by morcells; and then had they a care
to set others in their places. Vpon the toppe of the
temple were two stones or chappells, and in them were
the two Idolls which I have spoken of, Vitziliputzli, and
hiscompanion Tlaloc. These Chappells were carved and
graven very artificially, and so high, that to ascend yp to
it, there was a staire of stone of sixscore steppes. Before
these Chambers or Chappells, there was a Court of fortie
foote square, in the midst thereof, was a high stone of
five hand breadth, poynted in fashion of a Pyramide, it
was placed there for the sacrificing of men; for being
laid on their backes, it made their bodies to bend, and
so they did open them and pull out their hearts, as I
shall shew heereafter.” *

3 Acosta, Hist, Nat. Ind., pp. 352-3, 361-3, Acosta yiyes a description of
the wanderings of the Mexicans and how their god Vitziliputzli, directed and
guided them therein, much as the God of Israel directed his people, across
the wilderness to the Promised Land. Tradition also tells, how he him-

294 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Solis describes this temple also:—

The top of the truncated pyramid on which the idols
of Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc were placed was forty feet
square, and reached by a stair of a hundred and twenty
steps. On this platform, on either hand, at the head of
the stairs, stood two sentinel-statues supporting great can-
dlesticks of an extraordinary fashion. And first, from
the jasper flags, rose a hump-backed altar of green stone.
Opposite and beyond was the chapel wherein behind
curtains sat Huitzilopochtli, on a throne supported by a
blue globe. From this, supposed to represent the heav-
ens, projected four staves with serpents heads, by which
the priests carried the god when he was_ brought
before the public. The image bore on its head a bird of
wrought plumes whose beak and crest were of burnished
gold. The feathers expressed horrid cruelty and were
made still more ghastly by two stripes of blue one on the
brow and the other on the nose. Its right hand leaned
as on a staff upon a crooked serpent. Upon the left arm
wag a buckler bearing five white plums, arranged in form
of a cross; and the hand grasped four arrows venerated
as heaven-descended. To the left of this was another
chapel, that of Tlaloc. Now these two chapels and idols
were the same in every particular. These gods were
esteemed brothers—their attributes, qualities, powers,
inclinations, service, prayers, and so on, were identical
or interchangeable.‘

Sahagun says of Huitzilopochtli, that, being originally
a man, he was a sort of Hercules, of great strength and
warlike, a great destroyer of towns and slayer of men.
self revealed that manner of sacrifice most acceptable to his will:--some of
the priests having overnight offended him, lo, in the morning, they were
all dead men; their stomachs being cut open, and their hearts pulled out;
which rites in sacrifice were thereupon adopted for the service of that deity,

and retained until their rooting out by the stern Spanish husbandry, so well
onapees to such foul and bloody tares, Purchas, fis Pilgrimes, vol. iv., pp.

4 Solis, Hist, Cong. Mew., tom. i., pp. 396-8. This writer says: ‘The Spanish
soldiers called this idol Huchilobos, by a corrupt pronunciation: so too Bernal
Diaz del Castillo writes it. Authors differ much in describing this magnifi-
cent building. ‘ Antonio de Herrera follows Francisco Lopez de Gémara too
closely, We shall follow Father Josef de Acosta and the better informed
authors,’ Jd., p. 395,

he idols
orty feet
1 twenty
» head of
reat can-
rst, from
en stone.
n behind
rted by a
the heav-
by which
brought
| a bird of
burnished
and were
one on the
nd leaned
ie left arm
ed in form
venerated
s another
5s and idols
gods were
8, powers,
b identical

originally
ength and
by of men.

ill:--some of
mg, they were
ts pulled out;
of that deity,
andry, 80 well
g, VOL. iv., PP:

‘The Spanish
#0 too Jornal
this magnifl-
e Gémara too
tter informed

HUITZILOPOCHTLI AND CAMAXTLI.

295

In war he had been a living fire, very terrible to his
adversaries; and the devise he bore was a dragon’s head,
frightful in the extreme, and casting fire out of its
mouth. A great wizard he had been, and sorcerer, trans-
forming himself into the shape of divers birds and beasts.
While he lived, the Mexicans esteemed this man very
highly for his strength and dexterity in war, and when
he died they honored him as a god, offering slaves, and
sacrificing them in his presence. And they looked to it
that those slaves were well fed and well decorated with
such ornaments as were in use, with ear-rings and visors;
all for the greater honor of the god. In Tlaxcala also
they had a deity, called Camaxtli, who was similar to
this Huitzilopochtli.®

Gage, in a pretty fair translation of Herrera, describes
this god with Tezcatlipoca. He says:—

‘he gods of Mexico (as the Indians reported to the
first Spaniards) were two thousand in number; the
chiefest were Vitzilopuchtli, and Tezcatlipoca, whose
images stood highest in the temple upon the altars.
They were made of stone in full proportion as big as
a giant. They were covered with a lawn called Na-
car; they were beset with pearls, precious’ stones, and
pieces of gold, wrought like birds, beasts, fishes, and
flowers, adorned with emeralds, turquies, chalcedons,
and other little fine stones, so that when the lawn was
token away, the images seemed very beautiful and glorious
to behold. These two Indian idois had for « girdle great
snakes of gold, and for collars or chains about their
necks ten hearts of men made of gold; and each of them
had a counterfeit visor with eyes of glass, and in their
necks Death painted. These two gods were brethren,
for Tezcatlipoca was the god of providence, and Vitzilo-
puchtli, god of the wars, who was worshiped and feared
more then all the rest.” °
Torquomada goes to some length into the legend
5 Sahagun, Hist, Gen,, tom, i., lib, i

ib. i, p. i.
6 Gage's New Survey, pp. 116-7; Herrera, Hist, Gen., tom, i., dec, ii,
lib, vii, cap, xvii.

296 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

and description of this god of war, Huitzilopochtli, or
Mexitl :’"—

Huitzilopochtli, the ancient god and guide of the
Mexicans, is a name variously derived. Some say it is
composed of two words: Aaitzilin, ‘a humming-bird’, and
tlahuipuchili, ‘a sorcerer that spits fire. Others say that
the second part of the name comes not from tlahuipucht.
li, but from opuchih, that is, ‘the left hand;’ so that the
whole name, Huitzilopochtli, would mean ‘ the shining-
feathered left hand.’ For this idol was decorated with
rich and resplendent feathers on the left arm. And
this god it was that led out the Mexicans from their own
land and brought them into Andhuac.

Some held him to be a purely spiritual being, others
affirmed that he had been born of a woman, and related
his history after the following fashion: Near the city of
Tulla there is a mountain called Coatepec, that is to say
the Mountain of the Snake, where a woman lived, named
Coatlicue, or Snake-petticoat. She was the mother of
many sons called Centzunhuitznahua, and of a daughter
whose name was Coyolxauhqui. Coatlicue was very
devout and careful in the service of the gods, and she
occupied herself ordinarily in sweeping and cleaning the
sacred places of that mountain. It happened that one
day, occupied with these duties, she saw a little ball of
feathers floating down to her through the air, which she
taking, as we have already related, found herself in a
short time pregnant.’

Upon this all her children conspired against her to

7*Pero los mismos Naturales afirman, que este Nombre tomaron de el
Dios Principal, que ellos traxeron, el qual tenia dos Nombres, el uno Huit-
silopuchtli, y el otro Mexitly, i, este ts eg quiere decir Ombligo de
Maguey.’ Torgquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom, i., p. 293.
‘ Acontecid, pues, vn dia, que estando barriendo, come acostumbraba,
vid bajar por el Aire, una pelota pequefia, hecha de plumas, A manera de
ovillo, hecho de hilado, que se le vino & los manos, la qual tomd, y metid
entre los Nahuag, 6 Faldellin, }, la carne, debajo de Ia fajs que le cefin el
cuerpo (porque siempre traen fajado este genero de vestido) no imaginando
gthene misterio, ni fin de aquel caso. Acabo de barrer, y bused la pelota
de pluma, para vér de qué podria aprovecharla en servicio de sus Dioses, y
no la hallb, Quedd de esto admirada, y mucho mas de conocer en 8), que
~— anne punto se avia hecho prefiada,’ Torguemada, Monarg. Ind., tom.
+» PP» Bde.

bre
the
is td
of al
tles,
able
pern
ther
and
neig!
grou
rantl
blood
they
man,
the a
trum
and ¢
proce
the hi
crated
were
assem|
touche
and n

DOUGH STATURE OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI, 297
slay her,
Coyolxau

feathers,
ighs and

tles, for
able to

every ye
In one

they shaped
man, Th

er
age, with such bl Consecration ag
among them, T » and the

298 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

cious stones, each according to his means and devotion,
sticking the said offerings into the soft fresh dough of
which the idol was confected. After this ceremony
no one was allowed to touch the image any more, nor to
enter the place where it was, save only the high-priest.
After that they brought out the image of the god Pay-
nalton,’—who is also a war god, being vicar or sub-cap-
tain of the said Huitzilupochtli,—an image made of
wood, It was carried in the arms of a priest who rep-
resented the god Quetzalcoatl, and who was decorated
with ornaments rich and curious. Before this priest
there marched another carrying [the image of] a great
snake, large and thick, twisted and of many coils. The
procession filed along at great length, and here and there
at various temples and altars the priests offered up sacri-
fices, immolating human captives and quails, The
first station, or stopping-place, was at the ward of Teot-
lachco. Thence the cortége passed to Tlatelulco (where
I, Torquemada, am now writing this history); then to
Popotlan; then to Chapultepec—nearly a league from
the city of Mexico; then to Tepetoca; then to Acachi-
nanco; then back again to the temple whence it had set
out; and then the image of Paynalton was put on the
altar \, aere stood that of Huitzilopochtli, being left there
with the banner, called ezpanieath, that had been carried
before it during the march: only the great snake, men-
tioned above, was carried away and put in another place,

® This Paynalton, or Paynal, wasa kind of deputy-god, or substitute for
Huitzilopochtli; used in cases of urgent haste and immediate emergency,
where perhaps it might be thonght there was not time for the lengthened
ceremonies necessary to the invocation of the greater war deity. Sahagun's
account of Paynal is concise, and will throw light on the remarks of
Torquemada, as given above in the text. Sahagun says, in effect: This god
Paynal was ao kind of sub-captain to Huitzilopochtli, The latter, as chief-
captain, dictated the deliberate undertaking of war against any province; the
tormer, a* vicar to the other, served when it became unexpectedly necessary to
toire up arms and make front hurriedly against an enemy. Then it was that
Paynal--whose name means ‘swift, or hurried,'—when living on earth set
out in person to stir up the people to repulse the enemy. Upon his death
he was deified and a festival appointed in his honor, In this festival, his
image, richly decorated, was carried in a long procession, every one, bearer
of the idol or not, running as fast as he could; all of which represented the
pros panee that is many times necessary to resist the assault of a foo attack-
ng by surprise or ambuscade, Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. i,, lib, i, p. 2.

SYMBOLIC DEATH OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI. 299

to which it belonged. And at all these places where
the procession appeared, it was received with incensings,
sacrifices, and other ceremonies.

This procession finished, it having occupied the great-
er part of the day, all was prepared for a sacrifice. The
king himself acted the part of priest; taking a censer,
he put incense therein with certain ceremonies and in-
censed the image of the god. This done, they took down
ayain the idol, Paynalton, and set out in march, those
going in front that had to be sacrificed, together with all
things pertaining to the fatal rite. Two or three times
they made the circle of the temple, moving in horrid
corttge, and then ascended to the top, where they slew
the victims; beginning with the prisoners of war, and
finishing with the fattened slaves, purchased for the
occasion, rending out their hearts and casting the same
at the feet of the idol.

All through this day the festivities and the rejoicings
continued, and all the day and night the priests watched
vigilantly the dough statue of Huitzilopochtli, so that no
oversight or carelessness should interfere with the venera-
tion and service due thereto. Early next day they took
down said statue and set it on its feet in a hall. In-
to this hall there entered the priest, called after Quet-
zulcoatl, who had carried the image of Paynalton in his
arms in the procession, as before related; there entered
also the king, with one of the most intimate servants,
called Tehua, of the god Huitzilopochtli, four other
great priests, and four of the principal ae called
Telpochtlatoque, out of the number of those that had
charge of the other youths of the temple. These men-
tioned, and these alone, being assembled, the priest
named after Quetzalcoatl took a dart tipped with flint
and hurled it into the breast of the statue of dough,
which fell on receiving the stroke. This ceremony was
styled, ‘killing the god Huitzilopochtli so that his body
might be eaten.’ Upon this the priests advanced to
the fallen image and one of them pulled the heart out of
it, and gave the same to the king, The other priests

800 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

cut the pasty body into two halves. One half was given
to the people of Tlatelulco, who parted it out in crumbs
among all their wards, and specially to the young
soldiers,—no woman being allowed to taste ¢ morsel.
The other half was allotted to the people of that part of
Mexico called Tenochtlitlan; it was divided among the
four wards, Teopan, Atzaqualco, Quepopan, and Moyot-
lan; and given to the men, to both small and great, even
to the men-children in the cradle. All this ceremony
was called teoqualo, that is to say, ‘god is eaten,’ and
this making of the dough statue and eating of it was re-
newed once every year.”

Closely as J. G. Miiller studied the character of Quet-
zalcoatl, his examination of that of Huitzilopochtli, has
been still more minute and was indeed the subject of a
monograph published by him in 1847. <A student of
the subject cannot afford to overlook this study, and I
translate the more important parts of it in the paragraphs
which follow; not, indeed, either for or against the in-
terests of the theory it supports, but for the sake of the
accurate and detail:d handling, rehandling, and group-
ing there, by a master in this department of mythologi-
cal learning, of almost all the data relating to the matter
in hand :—

Huitzilopochtli has been already referred to as an orig-
inal god of the air and of heaven. He agrees also with
Quetzalcoatl in a second capital point, in having be-
come the anthropomorphic national god of the Aztecs,
as Quetzalcoatl of the Toltecs. On their marches and
in their wars, in the establishment of codes and towns,
in happiness as well as in misfortune, the Aztecs were
guided by his oracle, by the spirit of his being. As the
Toltecs, especially in their later national character,
diffur from the Aztecs, so differ their two chief national
gods. If the capital of the Toltecs, Cholula, resembled
modern Rome in its religious efforts, so the god enthroned
there was transformed into the human form of a high-
priest, in whom this people saw his human ideal, In

“+quemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. i., p. 298, tom. ii., pp. 41-3, 71-3.

th
tal
Wi
na
M

ac
the
fro
In
The
feat
nect
proy
beat
of ti
croy
The
hum
upon
of tl
of its
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of th
even |
ears y
on th
had al
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Was di
was a
the ge
humm
the sp
I8 spec
eler ]
for it,
times
its she

THF. NAME HUITZILOPOOCHTLI. 801

the same manner one might be led to compare the capi-
tal of the Aztecs with ancient Rome, on account of its
warlike spirit, and therefore it was right to make the
national god of the Aztecs a war god like the Roman
Mars.

We will commence with the name of the god, which,
according to Sahagun, Acosta, Torquemada, and most of
the writers, signifies ‘on the left side a humming-bird ;
from hwitzilin, ‘a humming-bird,’ and opochtli, ‘left.’
In connecting the Aztec words, the ending is cut off.
The image of the god had in reality, frequently, the
feathers of the humming-bird on the left foot. The con-
nection of this bird with the god is, in many ways, ap-
propriate. It no doubt appeared to them as the most
beautiful of birds, and as the most worthy representant
of their chief deity. Does not its crest glitter like a
crown set with rubies and all kinds of precious stones?
The Aztecs have accordingly, in their way, called the
humming-bird, ‘sun-beam,’ ‘or sun-hair; as its alighting
upon flowers, is like that of a sun-beam. The chief god
of the Caribs, Juluca, is also decorated with a band
of its feathers round the forehead. The ancient Mexi-
cans had, as their most noble adornment, state-mantles
of the same feathers, so much praised by Cortés; and
even at the present time the Aztec women adorn their
ears with these plumes. This humming-bird decoration
on the left foot of the god was not the only one; he
had alsoa green bunch of plumage upon his head, shaped
like the bill of a small bird. The shield in his left hand
was decorated with white feathers, and the whole image
was at times covered with a mantle of feathers. ‘To
the general virtues which make comprehensible the
humming-bird attribute as a divine one, must be added
the special virtue of bravery peculiar to this bird, which
is specially suited to the war god. The English trav-
eler Bullock tells how this bird distinguishes itself
for its extraordinary courage, attacking others ten
times its own size, flying into their eyes, and using
its sharp bill as a most dangerous weapon. Noth-

802 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

ing more daring can be witnessed than its attack upon
other birds of its own species, when it fears disturbance
during the breeding-season. The effects of jealousy
transform these birds into perfect furies, the throat
swells, the crest on their head, the tail, and the wings
are expanded; they fight whistling in the air, until one
of them falls exhausted to the ground. That such a
martial spirit should exist in so small a creature
shows the intensity of this spirit; and the religious
feeling is the sooner aroused, when the instrument of a
divine power appears in so trifling and weak a body.
The small but brave and warlike woodpecker stood in a
similar relation to Mars, and is accordingly termed picus
nuirtius.

This, the most common explanation of the name Huit-
zilopochtli, as ‘humming-bird, left side’ is not followed
by Veytia, with whom Prichard agrees. He declares
the meaning of the name to be ‘left hand,’ from Awit-
zitoc, ‘hand,’ because Huitzilopochtli, according to the
fable, after his death, sits on the left side of the god
Tezcatlipoca. Now, Huitzilopochtli is in another place
considered as the brother of this god; he also stands
higher, and can therefore scarcely have obtained his
name from his position with respect to the other deity.
Besides, hand in Aztec is properly translated as maiti, or
toma.

Over and above this attribute which gives the god his
name, there are others which point towards the concep-
tion of a war god. Huitzilopochtli had, like Mars and
Odin, the spear, or a bow, in his right hand, and in
the left, sometimes a bundle of arrows, sometimes a
round white shield, on the side of which were the four
arrows sent him from heaven wherewith to perform
the heroic deeds of his people. On these weapons de-
pended the welfare of the state, just as on the ancile
of the Roman Mars, which had fallen from the sky, or
on the palladium of the warlike Pallas Athena,

By-names also point out Huitzilopochtli as war god;
for he is called the terrible god, Tetzateotl, or the rag-

WwW.
hi

Hi
ay
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relg
Be
‘the
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fend
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carri
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this go
ance t
By its
(Stiftsl
among

KINDRED OF HUITZILOPOCHTLI. 803

ing, Tetzahuitl. These names he received at his birth,
when he, just issued from his mother’s womb, overthrew
his adversaries.

Not less do his connections indicate his warlike nature.
His youngest brother, Tlacahuepancuextotzin, was also
a war god, whose statue existed in Mexico, and who re-
ceived homage, especially in Tezcuco. In still closer
relationship to him stands his brother-in-arms, or, as
Bernal Diaz calls him, his page, Paynalton, that is,
‘the fleet one; he was the god of the sudden war
alarm, tumultus or general levée en masse; his call
ubliged all capable of bearing arms to rush to the de-
fence. He is otherwise considered as the representant
of Huitzilopochtli and subordinate to him, for he was
only asmall image, as Diaz says, and as the ending ton
denotes, The statue of this little war-crier was always
placed upon the altar of Huitzilopochtli, and sometimes
carried round at his feast.

Other symbolic attributes establish Huitzilopochtli as
the general national god of this warlike people, and sym-
bolized his personal presence. On the march from the
ancient home, the priests took their turn, in fours, to
carry his wooden image, with the little flag fallen from
heaven, and the four arrows. ‘The litter, upon which
the image was carried, was called the ‘chair of god,’
teoicpalli, and was a holy box, such as.was used among
the Etruscans and Egyptians, the Greeks and the Ro-
mans, in Ilium, among the Japanese, among the Mon-
gols. In America, the Cherokees are also found with
such an ark, The ark of the covenant carried by the
Levites through the desert and in battle, was of a simi-
lar kind. Wherever the Aztecs halted for some time
during their wanderings, they erected an altar or a
sacrifice mound to their god, upon which they placed
this god’s-litter with the image; which ancient observ-
ance they kept up, in later times, in their temples.
By its side they erected a movable tent, tabernaculum,
(Stiftshtitte), in the open country, as is customary
among nomadic people, such as the Mongols. The god,

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

304

however, gave them the codes and usages of a cultured
people, and received offerings of prisoners, hawks, and
quails,

As the head of a sparrow on a human body points to
the former worship of Quetzalcoatl under the form of
a sparrow, so the humming-bird attribute on the image
and in the name of Huitzilopochtli, points him out as an
original animal god. The general mythological rule, that
such animal attributes refer to an ancient worship of the
god in question under the form of an animal, points this
out in his case, and the special myth of Huitziton assists
here in the investigation of the foundation of this origin-
al nature.

When the Aztecs still lived in Aztlan, a certain
Huitziton enjoyed their highest esteem, as the fable
tells, This Huitziton heard the voice of a bird, which
cried ‘tihui,’ that is ‘let us go." He thereupon
asked the people to leave their home, which they ac-
cordingly did. When we consider the name Huitzi-
ton, the nature of the story, and the mythical time to
which it refers, no doubt remains as to who this Huit-
ziton is supposed to be. It is evident that he is none
other than the little bird itself, which, in our later form
of the myth, as an anthropomorphic fable, is separated
from him; separated euhemeristically, just as the latin
Picus was separated from his woodpecker. This Picus,
whose songs and flight were portentous, was rep-
resented as a youth with a woodpecker on his head, of
which he made use for his seer-art; but was originally,
as denoted by his name, nothing else than a woodpecker,
which was adored on the wooden pillar from which it
sent its sayings. This woodpecker placed itself upon the
vexillum of the Sabines, and guided them to the region
which has been named Picenum after it. As this bird
guided its people to their new abode, like Huitziton,
so many other animal gods have lead those who, in
ancient times, sought new homes. .Thus a crow con-
ducted Battus to Cyrene; a dove led the Chalcid-

4 See this vol., p. 69, note.

ia
the
me}
car
The
Mba
cara
peo
this
favo
the f (
to the
were
old he
resum
bird g
to emi
humm
syllabl
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messag
related
water r
the ark.
Cataling
preters
self-evid
which j,
searcher
oturini
pochtli I
the tran;
he was }
anthropo:
the attrib
—a name
bird on th
'? See this

3 See thig
Von,

-culture myth, A
h of myths like the
of convents, the sites
ables of the Chri

ded, and soon

[islands
were adore

name, myth, and
sformation of th

, however, mere]
mbol, and name

with hig form into

attribute, emble

8, the Italian
of Huitzilo-
Previous to
omorphism,
huitaiton ; by

of the god,
‘humming.

806 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

The identity of the two, in spite of the different ex-
planations of the name, is accepted by Veytia, who gives
Huitzitoc as the name of the chief who led the Aztec
armies during their last wanderings from Chicomoztoc, or
the Seven Caves, into Andhuac. Under his leadership
the Aztecs were everywhere victorious, and for this
reason he was placed, after his death, on the left side of
the god Tezcatlipoca; since which time he was called
Huitzilopochtli.

The identity of Huitziton and Huitzilopochtli, is also
shown by other facts besides the name, the attribute, and
the mythological analogy: the same important acts are
ascribed to both. We have seen that Huitziton com-
manded the Aztecs to leave their home; according to
another account of Acosta, this was done on the persua-
sion of Huitzilopochtli. If other Spanish authors state
that this was done by instigation of the devil, they mean
none other than Huitzilopochtli, using a mode of speech

which had become an established one. This name became
a common title of the devil in Germany, under the form

o: Vizliputzli, soon after the conquest of Mexico, as may

Le seen in the old popular drama of Faust. The fable
further relates of Huitziton that he taught the Aztecs to
produce fire by friction, during their wanderings. The
gift of fire is usually ascribed to a culture-god. Huitzil-
opochtli was such a deity; he introduced dress, laws, and
ceremonies among his people. The statement that Huit-
ziton bid at some time, given fire to the people, has no
histovical meaning; there is no people without fire, and
- *uemerly told myth mentions that man made fire even
before the existence of the present sun. The significa-
tion of the fable is a religious one, it is a myth in which
the Aztecs ascribe the origin of all human culture to
Huitziton their culture-god, afterward Huitziloyoc!itli.
This god wore also a band of human hearts sid faces
of gold and silver; while various bones of dead men, as
well as a man torn in pieces, were depicted on his dress.
These attributes like those of the Indian Schiwa and
Kali, clearly point him out as the god to whom human

sac
am
hu
wit!
bloc
com
cent
are |
T
valle
their
of th
the ti
were
king,
Secret
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had th
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The Az
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the king
for the |
them, th
were bro
their bre.
heart toy
upon the
their sery
dered for

SACRIFICE MYTHs, 307

sacrifices were made.

It was extensively believed

among the nations Composing the Mexican Empire that
n introduced by the Aztecs
Before that time only
n made,

human sacrifices had

within the last two centuries,

bloodless offerings had bee
commencement of

ave occurred.
The Colhu

Huitzilopoe
of the Col
costly and wo
th

Were brought ou
their breasts cut
heart torn out,

4n, or Mexico, on
(Opuntie) rowing upon a rock,

A myth places the

In the fourteenth
CCeSSiVe cases thereof

sisin enemies,
much delayed

r this god a
ent them, b

38 than to grace
the Xochimilcos
stone of sacrifice,
nd the palpitating

308 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

At the second sacrifice a Colhua was the victim.
An Aztec was hunting. on the shore of the lake, for an
aniinal tc offer his pacron deity, when he met a Colhua
called Xomimitl; he attacks him furiously, bears him
down, and the defeated man is made to bleed upon the
sacrifice stone.

Both myths are aitiological, and explained by the
sacrifice system (Opferkultus). This is shown in the
case of the four prisoners, of whom we shall learn more
in the third story. The second story personifies the
Aztec and the Colhua peoples in the two men, the
second nation supplying the first with human sacrifices.
With the sacrifice of Xomimitl, the parallelism of which
to the four Xochimilos cannot be overlooked by any
one, the first temple of Huitzilopochtli, in Tenochtitlan,
was inaugurated.

The third sacrifice shows still more closely the relig-
ious basis (Kultusgrundlage) of the myth. Here also,
as in the former, we have to do with a Colhua.
The Aztecs offered the Colhua king to show divine
honors to his daughter and to apotheosize her into the
mother of their national god, declaring that such was
the will of the deity. The king, rejoicing at the honor
intended for his daughter, let her go, and she was
brought to Tenochtitlan with great pomp. No sooner,
however, had she arrived than she was sacrificed, Hayed,
and one of the bravest youths dressed in her skin, The
king was invited to the solemn act of the deification of
his daughter, and only became aware of her death when
the flame from the copal gum revealed to him the bloody
skin about the youth placcd at the side of the god. The
daughter was, however, at once formally declared mother
of Huitzilopochtli and of all the gods.

This aitiological cultus-myth is easily explained.
The name of the daughter is Teteionan, whom we have
learned to know as the gods’ -mother, and as Tocitzin, ‘our
grandmother. * She was never the daughter of a

4 If some of the names and myths, mentioned or alluded to from time to
time, by Miiller and others, are yet unknown to the reader, he will remem-

ficec

ber the
legends
obviated
and lege

he
he
ore
the
the
2e8.
ich
Any
lan,

slig-
ulso,
hua,
vine
the
was
nor
was
ner,
ved,
The
n of
phen
ody
The
her

red,
have
our
bf a

ine to
MoM

TETEIONAN. 809

human king, but has been transformed into one by eu-
hemerism, somewhat as Iphigenia is to be considered as
originally Artemis. The goddess Teteionan had her
special festival in Mexico, when a woman, dressed as
goddess, was sacrificed; while held on the back of an-
other woman, her head was cut off, then she was flayed,
and the skin carried by a youth, accompanied by a
numerous retinue, as a present to Huitzilopochtli. Four
prisoners of war were, moreover, previously sacrificed.
Similar to this sto:y, told by Clavigero, is another,
narrated by Acosta. According to the latter, Tozi was
the daughter of the king of Culhuacan, and was made
the first human sacrifice by order of Huitzilopochtli, who
desired her for a sister, Tozi is, however, none other
than Tocitzin, and is also shown to be ‘our grandmother,’
According to the Aztec version, the custom of dressing
priests in the skin of sacrificed beings dates from her—-
such representations are often seen, especially in Hum-
boldt; the Basle collection of Mexican antiquities possesses
also the stone image of a priest dressed in a human skin.
The fourth month, Tlacaxipehualitali, this is. ‘to flay a
man,’ derived its name from this custom, which is said to
have been most frequent at this period of the year,
Goddesses, or beings representing goddesses, are sacri-
ficed in both of these fables. We have met with human
sacrifices among the Muyscas in Central America, and in
connection with many deities of the Mexicans, in which
the human victim represents the god to whom he is to
be sacrificed. Slaves impersonating gods were also
sacrificed among the northern Indians, the so-called
Indios bravos. The person sacrificed is devoured by
the god, is given over to him, is already part of him,
is the god himself. Such was the case with the slave
that personated Quetzalcoatl in the merchants’ festival
in Cholula,
The critic is only able to admit the relative truth of

ber the impossibility of any arrangement of these mixed and far-involved
legends by which, without infinite verbiage, this trouble could be wholly

obviated, In pont time, and with w! .° + earness is possible, the list of gods
and legende will be made as nearly as ..0y be complete,

810 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

the recentness of the period in which the origin of Mexi-
can human sacrifices is placed by these three myths. We
already know that human sacrifices are very ancient in
all America, and that they have only been put aside at «
few places by humane efforts; us in Peru to some extent
by means of the Incas, We have met with them through-
out all South America.

The statement so generally made that the Toltec
Quetzalcoatl preached against human sacrifices, certainly
implies the previous existence of such sacrifices, This
statement about Quetzalcoatl also points out the way to
the assimilation of the varying accounts, fables, and
myths. In very ancient times human sacrifices pre-
dominated everywhere. The Toltecs, like the Incas,
endeavored more or less to abolish them, and, even if not
altogether successful, they reduced them considerably.
The Aztecs reintroduced them. In the East Indies,
these sacrifices date back to the era before the tlood, and
the Greeks there met with remains of anthropophagy,
the basis thereof.

Brahmanism sought to exterminate these ancient sac-
rifices, and the Vedas forbid them, a prohibition which,
in connection with the custom of pretending to sacrifice
human beings, gives evidence of a former use of actual
sacrifices, ‘The later sect of Shiwaits again introduced
‘them.

However ancient the national political phase of Huit-
zilopochtli may be, the nature phase is still older.
This god, too, has a nature-basis which not only explains
his being, but throws light upon his further unfolding
as a national or war god. All searchers who do not
begin with this basis, see nothing but inexplicable rid-
dles and contradictions before them.

This nature-basis is first seen in the myth about his
birth. In the neighborhood of Tulla there was a place
called Coatepec, where lived a god-fearing woman,
called Coatlicue. One day, as she was going to the
teinple, according to her custom, a gaily colored ball of
feathers fell down from heaven; she picked it up, and

TWO MOTHERS OF HUITZILOPOC’'TLI. 811

hid it in her bosom, intending to decorate the altar
therewith. As she was on the point of producing it for
this purpose, it could not be found. A few days after-
ward she was aware of being pregnant. Her children, the
Centzunhuitznahuas, also noticed this, and, in order to
avoid their own disgrace, they determined to kill her be-
fore she was delivered. Her sorrow was however, mirac-
ulouslv consoled by a voice that made itself heard from
within ner womb, saying: Fear not, O mother, I will save
thee to thy great honor, and to my great fame! The
brothers, urged on by their sister, were on the point of
killing her, when, behold, even as the armed Athena
sprang from her father’s head, Huitzilopochtli was born;
the shield in his left hand, the spear in his right, the
green plumaye ~. his head, and humming-bird feathers
on his left leg 1:4 1ace, arms, and legs being, moreover,
striped witha blue. At once he slew his opponents,
plundered th sir dwellings, and brought the spoils to his
mother. rom this he was called Terror and the lright-
ful God.

If we dissect this myth, we notice that another mother
appears than the one formerly sacrificed in his honor, Te-
teionan. ‘Two mothers present nothing remarkable in
mythology, I have only to mention A phroditeand Athena,
who according to different accounts, had different fathers.
So long as the formation of myths goes on, founded upon
fresh conceptions of nature, somewhat different ideas
(for wholly different, even here, the two mothers are
not) from distinct points of view, are always possible.
It is the anthropomorpb isin o: the age that fixes on the
one-sided conclusion, ‘“eteionan’ is Huitzilopochtli’s
mother, because she js the ::other of all the gods, The
mother, in this in*tance, is tc flora of the Aztecs, eu-
hemerized into a god-fearing woman, Coatlicue, or Coat-
lantana, of whose worship in Coatepec and Mexico we
we have already spoken,

The second point prominent in the myth, is the
close connection of Huitzilopochtli with the botanical
kingdom, The hurening-bird is the messenger of

[Se

SS

SS

812 GODS, SUPERNATURAL: BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

spring, sent by the south to the north, by the hot to
the temperate region. It is the means of fructifying the
flowers, its movements causing the transfer of the pol-
len from the stamens to the germ-shells. It sticks its
long, thin little bill deep into the flower, and rummag-
ing beneath the stamens, drinks the nectar of the flower,
while promoting the act of plant-reproduction. In the
Latin myth also, Mars stands in close connection with
Flora: Juno gives him birth with Flora» uid, without
the assistance of Jupiter. In our mythology of the
north, Thor is on a friendly footing with Nanna, the
northern Flora, We are already acquainted also with
a fable of the Pimas, according to which the goddess of
maize became pregnant by @ xzindrop, and bore the
forefather of the people, he whv the great houses.
The question, why Huitzilopoci:: should be the son
of the goddess of plants, and what his real connec-
tion with the botanical kingdom consists in, is solved by
examining his worship at the three ancient yearly feasts,
which take place exactly at those periods of the year
that are the most influential for the Mexican climate,
the middle of May, the middle of August, and the end
of December. As a rule, in the first half of May
the rain begins, Previous to this, the greatest drought
and torpidness reign; the plants appear feeble and droop-
ing; nature is bare, the earth gray with dry, withered
grass, After a few days of rain, however, the trees
appear in a fresh green, the ground is covered with new
herbs, all nature is reiinimated. Trees, bushes, plants,
develop their blossoms; a vapory fragrance rises over all.
The fruit shoots from the cultivated field, the juicy,
bright green of the maize refreshes the eye. Mtihlen-
pfordt, who stayed a long time in these regions, gives this
description of the season, Vilker’s statement that rain
and water stand as fructifying principles in the first
rank in ancient physics, and that they meet us in innu-
merable myths, holds doubly good for the tropics. It
requires little imagination to understand what a power-
ful impression transformed nature, with all its beauty

and
nat
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offe
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SISTERS OF HUITZILOPOOHTLI : 318

and blessings, must Produce in the soul of the child of
nature. It is on this account that the ancient Tlaloc

Bertha, Frieg, and other divinities, entered the country
at this period. The Aztecs prepared especially for this
feast an image of their chief god, made of edible plants
and honey, of the “une size as the wooden image; and
the youths sang the deeds of their god before it, and
hymns praying for rain and fertility, Offering of multi.
tudes of quails, incense-burniny, and the significant dance
of priests and Virgins, followed. The virgins, who on this
day were called sisters of Huitzilopochtli, wore garlands
of dry maize-leaves on their heads, and carried split
reeds in their hands; by this repcesenting the dry sea-
son, The priests, on ‘the contrary, represented the
quickened nature, having their lips smeared with honey,
Now although, according to Max von Wied, there were
no bees in America before the arrival of the E uropeans, the
bees are here represented by humming-birds, also called
honey or hee birds, which, hovering and humming like
bees, gather their food from the tube-shaped flowers,
‘his food consists of a small insect that lives on honey,
and they feed their young by letting them suck at the
tongue covered with this honey, ~The Priests bore,
further, another symbol of spring: each one held a staff’
in his hand, on which & flower of feathers Was fixed,
having another bunch of feathers fixed Over it; thus too
Freya's hawk-plumage denoted the advent of the fine
Season. A prisoner had been selected a year in advance
8 & victim, and was called ‘ wise lord of the heaven,’ for
1¢ personated the god, and had the Privilege of choosing
the hour of the sacrifice; he did not die, like the other
Prisoners, on the sacrifice stone, but on the shoulders of

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

814

the priests. The little children were consecrated to the
god of their country, at this festival, by a small incision
on the breast.

So also Mars appears as god of spring, he to whom the
grass and the sacred spring time of the birth of animals
(ver sacrum) were dedicated, whose chief festival and
whose month are placed at the commencement of spring,
at which time the Salii also sang their old religious songs,
and a man personated the god. The Tyrian festival of
the awaking of Hercules fell also in spring, for the same
reason. Thus, in the myth of the birth of Huitzilo-
pochtli, and in his first festival, spring, or the energy that
produces spring, is made the basis of his being. His
warlike attributes are appendages of the anthropomor-
phized national and war god

The second great festival of the deity takes place in
the middle of August. The rains which have lasted
and refreshed up to this time, become intermittent, and
the fine season approaches, during which the azure sky of
the tropics pours its splendor and its beneficial warmth
upon men, animals, and plants, scattered over a plain
situated 8500 feet above the level of the sea. This is
the twelfth month there, the month of ripe fruits, The
idols in all temples and dwellings are decorated with
flowers. It is now no longer the rain which is the bless-
ing, but the blue sky which cherishes the variegated
flower-world. For this reason the image of Huitzilo-
pochtli was blue, his head was wound round with an azure
ribbon, in his right hand he held an azure staff or club,
and he sat on an azure stool, which, according to ancient
accounts, represents heaven as his dwelling-place. His
arms and legs had also blue stripes, and costly blue
stones hung round his neck. The Kgy ptian god of fer-
tility, Khem, was also represented in blue.

The third festival of Huitzilopochtli takes place dur-
ing the wintex solstice, a period which plays a great role
in all worships and myths, The best-known festival of

this kind is the one held on the 25th of December
throughout the Roman Empire, to celebrate the birth of

ings
fasts,
and
Quetz
of Hu
now @¢
with
sentati
divided
every mr
god wh
The }
evident
a comp
other fe:
sion, ‘T
festival j
the god «
hunger,
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death of.
or Diony
Adonis li:
and with
na leaves |
Celtic sur
again, ‘T'
Heracles j

DEATH OF VEGETATION, 815

Mithras, the invincible sun, The Chipewas in North
America call December the month of the small spirit,

dries up, the plants search in vain for their nourishment,
many trees lose their foliage—in a Word, nature seems
dead. And g0 it happened with their god. The priests
prepared his image of Various seeds kneaded with the
blood of sacrificed children. N umerous religious purify.
ings and Penances, washings with water, blood-lettings,
fasts, processions, burning of incense, sacrifices of quails
and human beings, inaugurated the festival, One of
Quetzalcoat]’s priests then shot an urrow at this image
of Huitzilopochtli, which penetrated the god who was
now considered as dead. His heart was cut out, ag
with human Victims, and eaten by the king, the repre-
sentative of the god on earth. The body, however, was
divided among the various quarters of the city, so that
every man received a piece. This was called teogualo ‘the
god who is eaten,’
The meaning of the death of this god is, on the whole,
evident; it Corresponds with the death of vegetation ; and
« comparison of the myth of his birth, with the two

hunger, whose rule commences Where that of his brother
ends, The myth gives a similar form and sense to the
leath of Osiris, who is kiNled by Typhon, and the death
ot Dionysos and Hercules in the Phoenician colonies,
Adonis lives with Aphrodite during one half of the year,
and with Persephone the other half; the Indian Krish.
na leaves for the under-world ; thus, too, Brahma and the
Jeltic sun-god, Hu, died yearly, and were yearly born
again, The festival of the self-burning of the Tyrian
Heracles is algo of this kind; it takes place at the time

316 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

of the dying off of vegetation, even if this should be in
the summer.

As regards the custom of eating the god, this also
occurs at another feast which is celebrated during this
season, in honor of the gods of the mountains and the
water. Small idols of seeds and dough were then pre-
pared, their breasts were opened like those of human vic-
tims, the heart was cut out, and the body distributed for
eating. The time at which this occurs, shows that it
stands in necessary connection with the death of the god.
When the god dies it must be as a sacrifice in the fashion
of his religion, and when the anthropomorphized god
dies, it is as a human sacrifice amid all the necessary
usages pertaining thereto: he is killed by priests, the
heart is torn out, and his body eaten at the sacrifice
meal, just as was done with every human sacrifice,
Could it be meant that the god, in being eaten, is im-
parted to, or incorporated with, the person eating him?
This is no doubt so, though not in the abstract, meta-
physical, Christian or moral sense, but only with regard
to his nature-sense, (seiner Naturseite), which is the real
essence of the god. He gives his body, in seed, to be
eaten by his people, just as nature, dying at the approach
of the winter, at this very period, has stored up an
abundance of its gifts for the sustenance of man. It
gives man its life-fruit, or its fruit of life as a host or
holy wafer. Asa rule, the god, during the time of sac-
rifice, regales with the offering those bringing sacrifices;
and, the eating of the flesh of the slave, who so often
represents the god to whom he is sacrificed, is the same
as eating the god. We have heard of the custom among
some nations of eating the ashes of their forefathers, to
whom they give divine honors, in order to become pos-
sessors of their virtues. The Arkansas nation, west of
the Mississippi, which worshiped the dog, used to eat
dog-flesh at one of its feasts, Many other peoples
solemnly slaughter animals, consume their flesh, and
moreover pay divine honors to the remains of these ani-
mals. Here the eating of the god, in seeds, is made

paral
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the myth

YEARLY LIFE OF THE PLANT-WORLD. 817

clear—this custom also existed among the Greeks. The
division of the year-god by the ancients, in myth and
religious system, has, for the rest, no other sense than
has this distribution of the body of Huitzilopochtli. This
is done with the sun-bull at the festival of the Persian
Mithras, as at the feast, and in the myth of the Diony-
sos-Zagreus, of Osiris and Attys.

The three yearly festivals, as well as the myth of his
birth, all tend to show the positive connection of Huit-
zilopochtli with the yearly life of the plant-world.
The first festival is the arrival of the god, as the plant-
world is ushered in, with its hymns praying for rain,
its virgins representing the sisters of the god and the
inimical drought, in the same sense as the brothers and
sister, especially the latter, are his enemies in the myth
of his birth, and, as Tezcatlipoca, the god of drought is
his brother. Brothers and sisters not seldom represent
parallel contrasts in mythology and worship. The
second celebration presents the god as the botanical
kingdom in its splendor, for which reason the Mexicans
call the humming-bird the sunbeam, from the form as-
sumed by the god at this time. The humming-bird,
moreover, takes also his winter sleep, and thus tr god
dies in winter with the plants. The Greenianders asked
the younger Ngede if the god of heaven and earth ever
died, and, when answered in the negative, they were
much surprised, and said that he must surely be a great
god. This intimate connection with the plant-world is
also shown in the birth-myth of Huitzilopochtli, who here
appears as the son of the goddess of plants. It now be-
comes easier to answer the question of Wuttke: has the
fable of this birth reference merely to the making a man
out of a god already existing, or to the actual birth
of the god? The Aztecs, it is true, were undecided on
this point, some conceding to him a human existence on
earth, others investing him with a conciousness of his
nature being. We, however, answer this question simply,
from the preceding: the birth of the god is annual, and
the myth has therefrom invented one birth, said to have

318 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

taken place at some period, while the anthropomorphism
fables very prettily the transformation intoa man. Of
the former existence of a born god, the myth knows
nothing, for it is only afterward that it raises the god
into heaven. It has not, however, come to euhemerism
in the case of Huitzilopochtli, though it has with Huit-
ziton. In placing the god in the position of son to the
plant-goddess, the myth separates his being from that of
the mother, consequently, Huitzilopochtli is not the plant-
world himself, however closely he may be related to it.
This is made clearer by following up the birth-myth,
which makes him out to be not only the son of Coatlicue,
but also of the force causing her fructification. The
variegated ball of feathers which fell from heaven, is
none other than Huitzilopochtli himself, the little hum-
ming-bird, which is the means of fructifying the plants,
and the virile, fructifying nature-force manifested by
and issuing from him in the spring. He is also born
with the feather-tuft, and this symbol of the fine season
never leaves him in any of his forms, it remains his at-
tribute.

The Tapuas in South America have, after a similar
symbolism, the custom, at their yearly seed-sowing
festivals, of letting some one hang a bunch of ostrich-
feathers on his back, the feathers being spread over like
awheel. This feather-bunch is their symbol of the fruc-
tifying power which comes from heaven. Their belief
that bread falls from heaven into this tuft of feathers is
thus made clear. In this myth we find the natural basis
of such a birth-myth. In our northern mythology,
Neekris, the ball, is, in the same manner, the father of
Nanna, the northern Flora, That this virile power of
heaven is made to appear as a ball of feathers, suits the
humming-bird god. The Esths also imagined their god
of thunder, as the god of warmth, in the form of a bird.
In the same sense, doves were consecrated to Zeus,
in Dodona and Arcadia, and a flying bird is a symbol
of heaven among the Chinese. This force may, how-
ever, be symbolized in another form, and give rise to 4

which 1
opment;
namely,
gods, m)
religion
theism,
the vari
as this vy
gard to t
the anth
with his |

THE VIRILE NATURE-POWER. 319

birth-myth of exactly the same kind. Thus, the
daughter of the god Sangarius, in the Phrygian myth,
hid in her bosom the fruit of an almond-tree, which had
grown out of the seed of the child of the earth, Agdistis:
the fruit disappeared, the daughter became pregnant and .
bore the beautiful boy Attes. According to Arnobius,
it was the fruit of a pomegranate-tree, which fructified
Nanna. Among the Chinese, a nymph, called Puzza,
the nourisher of all living things, became pregnant by
eating a lotus-flower, and gave birth to a great law-
giver and conqueror. Danaé, again, becomes pregnant
from the golden shower of Zeus—an easily understood
symbolism. Jt is always the virile nature-power, either
as seen in the sun, or in the azure sky (for which reason
Huitzilopochtli is called the lord of the heaven, Ochibus
or Huchilobos), which puts the variegated seed into the
womb of the plant-world, ‘at the same time bringing
himself forth again, and making himself manifest in the
plant-world.’ This heavenly life-force no sooner finds
an earthly mother-womb than its triumph is assured, even
before birth, while developing its bud; just as the inner
voice, in the myth, consoled the mother, and protected
her against all her enemies. It is only after his birth
that the myth holds Huitzilopochtli as a personal an-
thropomorphic god.

This is the natural signification of Huitzilopochtli,
which we have accepted as the basis of all other devel-
opments of the god, and for this universal reason,
namely, that the most ancient heathen gods are nature-
gods, mythologic rules being followed, and that the pagan
religion is essentially a nature-worship as well as a poly-
theism. The special investigation and following up of
the various virtues have led to the same result. But,
as this view has not yet been generally accepted in re-
gard to this god, a few words concerning the union of
the anthropomorphic national aspect of Huitzilopochtli,
with his natural one may be added. It has been thought
necessary'to make the martial phase of Huitzilopochtli
the basis of the others, as with Mars. War is, from

820 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

this point of view, a child of spring, because weapons
are then resumed after the long winter armistice. This
is not at all the case with Huitzilopochtli, because the
rainy season, setting in in spring, when the arrival and
birth of the god are celebrated, renders the soft roads of
Mexico unsuitable for war expeditions. Wars were
originally children of autumn, at which time the ripe
fruits were objects of robbery. But the idea of a war
and national god is easily connected with the basis of a
fructifying god of heaven. This chief nature-god may
either be god of heaven, as Huitzilopochtli, as the rain-
giving Zeus is made the national god by Homer, to
whom human sacrifices were brought in Arcadia down
to a late period, or he may be a sun-god, like Baal, to
whom prayers for rain were addressed in Phoenicia, to
further the growth of the fruit, and who also received
human sacrifices. The Celtic Hu is also an ethereal
war god, properly sun-god, who received human sacri-
fices in honor of the victory of spring; none the less is
Odin’s connection with war, battle, and war horrors; he
is a fire-god, like Moloch and Shiva, to whom human
sacrifices were made for fear of famine and failure of
crops. The apparent basis of such a god has not to be
considered so much as the point that the people ascribed
to him the chief government of the course of the year. In
such a case, the chief ruler also becomes the national god,
the life of the nation depending immediately on the
yearly course of nature. Is the nation warlike, then, the
national god naturally becomes a war god as well. As
anthropomorphism connects itself with the nature-god
only at a later period, so does his worship as war god
aid national god. In the case of Mars, as well as of
Picus and Faunus, the same succession is followed.
Mars, for example, is called upon in a prayer which has
been preserved by Cato, to protect shepherds and flocks,
and to avert bad weather and misgrowth; Virgil refers
to him as a god of plants. In the song of the Arvalian
brothers, he is called upon as the protector of the flowers.
Thus, in his case also, the nature side is the basis. ‘Ihe

saying, -
found
seeming
connecti
be found
which ig
its skin
Huitziloy
snake-gor
corn in t
presents 1
the symbe
bute of th
represents
The snake
Poppies, a;
this natun
18 & suital

seas, and
Von,

SNAKE SYMBOLISM. 321

Chinese sy: ism of the union of the two sides or
phases, ig expressed in such a manner as to make spears
and weapons representations of the germs of plants,
This union hag already been illustrated among the
Aztecs, in the humming: bird, the sunbeam which plays
round the flowers, in whose little body the intensest war
spirit burns, Among the Egyptians, the beetle wag
placed upon the ring of the warrior, with whom it sig-
nified world and production.

It remaing to Speak of another attribute of Huitzilo-
pochtli, the snake attribute. Huitzilopochtli is also a
snake-god. eh when treating of the
snake-worship of t f rred to the numerous
snakes with which

gave him birth,
ime, in another Ww

found unit
seemingly pos
connection wi
an gods, o
which g. Just
its skin every year, and takes its win
Huitzilopochtli, whose mother, Flora,
snake-goddegs, Even so the snake repr
teries of Demeter, In th
ctifying Zeus and the bles

4
45,

is, in i » then the snake
8 & suitable attribute, India, snak i

seas, and the Punjab, whose fertility is assured by the
Von. II, 91

822 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

yearly inundations, has the name of snake lands (Nag-
akhanda), and claims an ancient worship. The sustain-
ing water-god, Vishnu, also received the snake attribute.
Among the Chinese, the water could be represented by
a snake. The Peruvians call the boa constrictor the
mother of nature.

The idea of the yearly renewal of nature is also con-
nected with that of time forever young, and the Aztecs,
therefore, encircle their cycle with a snake as the sym-
bol of time. The more positive signification which
the snake, placed by the side of the humming-bird, gives
to Huitzilopochtli, is that of a soothsaying god, like the
snake Python among the Greeks. The snake signified
‘king’ among the Egyptians, and this suits Huitzilo-
pochtli also, who ray properly enough be considered the
real king of his peopic. If, as connected with Huitzilo-
pochtli, the snake also represents the war god, on ac-
count of iis spirited mode of attack, I cannot with cer-
tainty say, but the myth as well as the worship places
it in this relation to the war goddess Athene. Although
the idea of a national and a war god is not quite obscured
in the snake attribute, yet the nature side is especially
denoted by it, as in the southern countries, where snake
worship prevailed; the reference to the southern nature
of this god is quite evident in the snake attribute. In
the north, moisture, represented by the snake, has never
attained the cosmological import which it has in the hot
countries of the south. There, the snake rather repre-
sents an anticosmogonic, or a bad principle.”

Mr Tylor, without committing himself to any extent in
details, yet agrees, as far as he goes, with Miiller. He
says: ‘The very name of Mexico seems derived from
Mexitli, the national war-god, identical or identified
with the hideous gory Huitzilopochtli. Not to attempt
a general solution of the enigmatic nature of this inex-
tricable compound parthenogenetic deity, we may notice
the association of his principal festival with the winter-

5 Miller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, pp. 591-612,

sols
arrd
and
UH
sho
life
funa
0
furt
follo
Tl
bega
‘the
cemh
flag i
soldic
war,
libert
saries
were
The }
their
this t
& cake
havin
and b
certail
which
utmos
mouth
munio
people
munio
the de
led th
ceremc

Lord

6 Tyl

WINTER-SOLSTICE FESTIVAL. 828

solstice, when his paste idol was shot through with an
arrow, and being thus killed, was divided into morsels
and eaten, wherefore the ceremony was called the teo-
qualo, or ‘ god-eating.’ This, and other details, tend to
show Huitzilopochtli as originally a nature-deity, whose
life and death were connected with the year’s, while his
functions of war-god may be of later addition.” *

Of this festival of the winter solstice the date and
further particulars are given by the Vatican Codex as
follows :— ;

The name Panquetzaliztli, of the Mexican month that
began on the first of December, means, being interpreted,
‘the elevation of banners.’ For, on the first day of De-
cember every person raised over his house a small paper
flag in honor of this god of battle; and the captains and
soldiers sacrificed those that they had taken prisoners in
war, who, before they were sacrificed, being set at
liberty, and presented with arms equal to their adver-
saries, were allowed to defend themselves till they
were either vanquished or killed, and thus sacrificed.
The Mexicans celebrated in this month the festival of
their first captain, Vichilopuchitl. They celebrated at
this time the festival of the wafer orcake. They madea
acake of the meal of bledos, which is called tzoali, and
having made it, the spoke over it in their manner,
and broke it into pieces. These the high priest put into
certain very clean vessels, and with a thorn of maguey,
which resembles a thick needle, he took up with the
utmost reverence single morsels, and put them into the
mouth of each individual, in the manner of a com-
munion,—and I am willing to believe that these poor
people have had the knowledge of our mode of com-
munion or of the preaching of the gospel; or perhaps
the devil, most envious of the honor of God, may have
led them into this superstition in order that by this
ceremony he might be adored and served as Christ our
Lord On the twenty-first of December they cele-

16 Tylor's Prim, Cult., vol. ii., p 278

824 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

brated the festival of this god,—through whose instru-
mentality, they say, the earth became again visible after
it had been drowned with the waters of the deluge: they
therefore kept his festival during the twenty following
days, in which they offered sacrifices to him.”

The deity Tlaloc, or Tlalocateuchtli, .“hom we have
several times found mentioned as seated beside Huitzilo-
pochtli in the great temple, was the god of water and
rain, and the fertilizer of the earth. He was neld
to reside where the clouds gather, upon the highest
mountain-tops, especially upon those of Tlaloc, Tlascala,
and Toluca, and his attributes were the thunderboit, the
flash, and the thunder. It was also believed that in
the high hills there resided other gods, subaltern to
Tlaloc—all passing under the same name, and revered
not only as gods of water but also as gods of moun-
tains. The prominent colors of the image of Tlaloc were
azure and green, thereby symbolizing the various shades
of water. ‘The decorations of this image varied a good
deal according to locality and the several fancies of
different worshipers: the description of Gama, founded
on the inspection of original works of Mexican religious
art, is the most authentic and complete. In the great
temple of Mexico, in his own proper chapel, called epe-
oatl, adjoining that of Huitzilopochtli, this god of water
stood upon his pedestal. In his left hand was a shield
ornamented with feathers; in his right were certain
thin, shining, wavy sheets of gold representing his
thunderbolts, or sometimes a golden serpent represent-
ing either the thunderbolt or the moisture with which
this deity was so intimately connected. On his feet were
a kind of half-boots, with little bells of gold hanging there-
from. Round his neck was a band or collar set with
gold and gems of price; while from his wrists depended
strings of costly stones, even such as are the ornaments of
kings. His vesture was an azure smock reaching to the
middle of the thigh, cross-hatched all over with ribbons

17 Spiegasione delle Tavole det Codice Mewicano ( Vaticano), tay, Ixxi.-ii.,
in Kingsborough's Mex, Antig., vol. v., pp. 195-6,

that h
open
green |
depend
the ing

Was digy
put mai:
called ef
A pra
in which
sometim
O our
Vverdure

8 Clavt
Piedras, pei

DECORATIONS OF TLALOC.

325

of silver forming squares; and in the middle of each
square was a circle also of silver, while in the angles
thereof were flowers, pearl-colored, with yellow leaves
hanging down. And even as the decoration of the vest-
ure so was that of the shield; the ground blue, covered
with crossed ribbons of silver and circles of silver: and
the feathers of yellow and green and flesh-color and
blue, each color forming a distinct band. The body was
naked from mid-thigh down, and of a grey tint, as was
also the face. This face had only one eye of a somewhat
extraordinary character: there was an exterior circle of
blue, the interior was white with a black line across it
and a little semi-circle below the line. Hither round
the whole eye or round the mouth was a doubled band,
or ribbon of blue; this, although unnoticed by Torque-
mada, is affirmed by Gama to have been never omitted
from any figure of Tlaloc, to have been his most char-
acteristic device, and that which distinguished him speci-
ally from the other gods. In his open mouth were to be
seen only three grinders; his front teeth were painted
red, as was also the pendant, with its button of gold,
that hung from his ear. His head-adornment was an
open crown, covered in its circumference with white and
green feathers, and from behind it: over the shoulder
depended other plumes of red and white. Sometimes
the insignium of the thunderbolt is omitted with this
god, and Ixtlilxochitl represents him, in the picture of
the month Etzalli, with a cane of maize in the one hand,

and in the other a kind of instrument with which he

was digging in the ground. In the ground thus dug were

put maize leaves filled with a kind of food, like fritters,

called e¢zalli; from this the month took its name.”

A prayer to this god has been preserved by Sahagun,
in which it will be noticed that the word Tlaloc is used
sometimes in the singular and sometimes in the plural :—

Q our Lord, most clement, liberal giver and lord of
verdure and coolness, lord of the terrestrial paradise,

,,,\* Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Measico, tom, ii,, p. 14; Leon y Gama, Dos
Piedras, pti., p. 101, pt ii, pp. 76-9,

$26 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

odorous and flowery, and lord of the incense of copal, woe
are we that the gods of water, thy subjects, have hid
themselves away in their retreat, who are wont to serve
us with the things we need and who are themselves
served with wh and auchtl and copal. They have left
concealed all the things that sustain our lives, and
earried away with them their sister the goddess of the
necessaries of life, and carried away also the goddess of
pepper. O our Lord, take pity on us that live; our food
goes to destruction, is lost, is dried up; for lack of water,
it is as if turned to dust and mixed with spiders’ webs.
Woe for the miserable laborers and for the common
people; they are wasted with hunger, they go about un-
recognizable and disfigured every one. ‘They are blue
under the eyes as with death; their mouths are dry as
sedge; all the bones of their bodies may be counted
as inaskeleton. Thechildren are disfigured aud yellow
as earth; not only those that begin to walk, but even
those in the cradle. There is no one to whom this tor-
ment of hunger does not come; the very animals and
birds suffer hard want, by the drought that is. It is
pitiful to see the birds, some dragging themselves along
with drooping wings, others falling down utterly and un-
able to walk, and others still with their mouths open
through this hunger and thirst. The animals, O our
Lord, it is a grievous sight to see them stumbling and
falling, licking the earth for hunger, and panting with
open mouth and hanging tongue. The people lose their
senses and die for thirst; they perish, none is like to re-
main. It is woeful, O our Lord, to see all the face of
the earth dry, so that it cannot produce the herbs nor
the trees, nor anything to sustain us,—the earth that
used to be as a father and mother to us, giving us milk
and all nourishment, herbs and fruits that therein grew.
Now is all dry, all lost; it is evident that the T'laloc
gods have carried all away with them, and hid in
their retreat, which is the terrestrial puradise. The
things, O Lord, that thou wert graciously wont to give
us, upon which we lived and were joyful, which are the

what i
Let it]
may nm
than if
ble thir
food, it
somethi
anguish
is inten
let the t
said by
from us,
the air «
destroy t
and obse
of men

PRAYER TO TLALOC.

827

life and joy of all the world, and precious as emeralds
or sapphires,—all these things are departed from us.
O our Lord, god of nourishment and giver thereof, most
humane and most compassionate, what thing hast thou
determined to do with us? Hast thou, peradventure
altogether forsaken us? Thy wrath and indignation
shall it not be appeased? Uast thou determined on the
perdition of all thy servants and vassals, and that thy
city and kingdom shall be left desolate and uninhabited?
Peradventure, this has been determined, and settled in
heaven and hades. O our Lord, concede at least this,
thai the innocent children, who cannot so much as walk,
who are still in the cradle, may have something to eat, so
that they may live, and not die in this so great famine.
What have they done that they should be tormented and
should die of hunger? Noiniquity have they committed,
neither know they what thing it is to sin; they have
neither offended the god of heaven nor the god of hell.
We, if we have offended in many things, if our sins have
reached heaven and hades, and the stink thereof gone
out to the ends of the earth, just it is that we be de-
stroyed and made an end of; we have nothing to say
thereto, nor to excuse ourselves withal, nor to resist
what is determined against us in heaven and in hades,
Let it be done; destroy us all, and that swiftly, that we
may not suffer from this long weariness which is worse
than if we b.. ~’ in fire. Certainly it is a horri-
ble thing to sv ‘or this hunger; it is like a snake lacking
food, it gulus down its saliva, it hisses, it cries out for
somethi.. - levour. It is a fearful thing to see the
anguish. +. “23manding somewhat to eat; this hunger
is intense .s burning fire, flinging out sparks, Lord,
let the thing happen that many years ago we have heard
said by the old men and women that have passed away
from us, let the heavens fall on us and the demons of
the air come down, the Izitzimites, who are to come to
destroy the earth with all that dwell on it; let darkness
and obscurity cover the whole world, and the habitation
of men be nowhere tuund therein. This thing was

828 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

known to the ancients, and they divulged it, and from
mouth to mouth it has come down to us, all this that
has to happen when the world ends and the earth is
weary of producing creatures. Our Lord, such present
end would be now dear to us as riches or pleasures once
were—miserable that we are! See good, O Lord, that
there fall some pestilence to end us quickly. Such
plague usually comes from the god of hades; and if it
came there would peradventure be provided some allow-
ance of food, so that the dead should not travel to hades
without any provision for the way. O that this tribu-
lation were of war, which is originated by the sun, and
which breaks from sleep like a strong and valiant one,
—1tor then would the soldiers and the brave, the stout
and warlike men, take pleasure therein. In it many
die, and much blood is spilt, and the battle-field is filled
with dead bodies and with the bones and skulls of the
vanquished; strewn also is the fuce of the carth with
the hairs of the head of warriors that rot; but this they
fear not, for they know that their souls go to the house
of the sun. And there they honor the sun with joyful
voices, and suck the various flowers with great delight;
there all the stout and valiant ones that died in war are
glorified and extolled; there also the little and tender
children that die in war are presented to the Sun, very
clean and well adorned and shining like precious stones,
Thy sister, the goddess of food, provides for those
that go thither, supplying them with provision for the
way; and this provision of necessary things is the
strength and the soul and the staff of all the people of
the world, and without it there is no life. But this
hunger with which we are afflicted, O our most humane
Lord, is so sore and intolerable that the miserable com-
mon people are not able to suffer nor support it; being
still alive they die many deaths; and not the people
alone suffer but also all the animals, O our most

compassionate Lord, lord of green things and gums,
of herbs odorous and virtuous, I beseech thee to look
with eyes of pity on the people of this thy city and

anguish
the peo
let then
are as |
substanc
that the
about u:
herbs be
precious
fly and 5
not this
symbols «
with thu
and very
deed som
paradise |
he restric
the other
come near
the earth;
sustenance
who can w
about throt

PRAYER FOR RAIN. 329

kingdom; for the whole world down to the very
beasts is in peril of destruction, and disappearance,
and irremediable end. Since this is so, I entreat
thee to see good to send back to us the food-giving
gods, gods of the rain and storm, of the herbs and of
the trees; so that they perform again their office here
with us on the earth. Scatter the riches and the pros-
perity of thy treasures, let the timbrels of joy be shaken
that are the staves of the gods of water, let them take
their sandals of india-rubber that they may walk with
swiftness. Give succor, O Lord, to our lord, the god
of the earth, at least with one shower of water, for
when *he has water he creates and sustains us. See
good, O Lord, to invigorate the corn and the other foods,
much wished for and much needed, now sown and
planted; for the ridges of the earth suffer sore need and
anguish from lack of water. See good, O Lord, that
the people receive this favor and mercy at thine hand,
let them see and enjoy of the verdure and coolness that
are as precious stones; see good that the fruit and the
substance of the Tlalocs be given, which are the clouds
that these gods carry with them and that sow the rain
about us. See good, O Lord, that the animals and
herbs be made glad, and that the fowls and birds of
precious feather, such as the quechotl and the caguan,
fly and sing and suck the herbs and flowers, And let
not this come about with thunderings and lightnings,
symbols of thy wrath; for if our lords the Tlalocs come
with thunder and lightning the whole people, being lean
and very weak with hunger, would be terrified. If in-
deed some are already marked out to go to the earthl

paradise by the stroke of the thunderbolt, let this deat

he restricted to them, and let no injury befall any of
the other people in mountain or cabin; neither let hurt
come near the magueys or the other trees and plants of
the earth; for these things are necessary to the life and
sustenance of the people, poor, forsaken, and cast-away,
who can with difficulty get food enough: to live, going
about through hunger with the bowels empty and stick-

830 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

ing to the ribs. O our Lord, most compassionate, most
generous, giver of all nourishment, be pleased to bless
the earth and all the things that live on the face thereof.
With deep sighing and with anguish of heart I cry upon
all those that are gods of water, that are in the four
quarters of the world, east and west, north and south,
and upon those that dwell in the hollow of the earth, or
in the air, or in the high mountains, or in the deep
caves, [ beseech them to come and console this poor
people and to water the earth; for the eyes of all that
inhabit the earth, animals as well as men, are turned
toward you, and their hope is set upon your persons. QO
our Lord, be pleased to come.”

This is a prayer to Tlaloc. But it was not with
prayers alone that they deprecated his wrath and im-
plored his assistance; here as elsewhere in the Mexican
religion sacrifices played an important part. When the
rain failed and the land was parched by drought, great
processions were made in which a number of hairless
dogs, common to the country, and good to eat, were
carried on decorated litters to a place devoted to this
use. There they were sacrificed to the god of water by
cutting out their hearts. Afterwards the carcasses were
eaten amid great festivities. All these things the Tlas-
caltec historian, Camargo, had seen with his own eyes
thirty years before writing his book. The sacrifices of
men, which were added to these in the days of great-
ness of the old religion, he describes as he was informed
by priests who had officiated thereat. Two festivals in
the year were celebrated to Tlaloc, the greater feast and
the less, Each of these was terminated by human sacri-
fices, The side of the victim was opened with a sharp
knife; the high priest tore out the heart, and turning
toward the east offered it with lifted hands to the sun,
crushing it at the same time with all his strength. He
repeated this, turning in succession towards the remain-
ing three cardinal points; the other damacaxques, or

19 Sahagun, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. v., pp. 372-6; Sahagun,
Hist, Gen., vol, ii, pp. 64-70.

closed ther.
para un di
esclavos de
Agua, ponid
mismo i
p. 45,

VENGEANCE OF TLALOC. 881

priests, not ceasing the while to darken with clouds of
incense the faces of the idols. The heart was lastly
burned and the body flung down the steps of the temple.
A priest, who had afterwards been converted to Christi-
anity, told Camargo that when he tore out the heart of
a victim and flung it down, it used to palpitate with such
force as to clear itself of the ground several times till it grew
cold. Tlaloc was held in exceeding respect and the priests
alone had the right to enter his temple. Whoever dared
to blaspheme against him was supposed to die suddenly or
to be stricken of thunder; the thunderbolt, instrument of
his vengeance, flashed from the sky even at the mo-
ment it was clearest. The sacrifices offered to him in
times of drought were never without answer and result;
for, as Camargo craftily insinuates, the priests took good
care never to undertake them till they saw indications
of coming rain; besides, he adds,—introducing, in de-
fiance of nec deus intersit, a surely unneeded personage,
if we suppose his last statement true,—the devil, to
to confirm these people in their errors, was always sure
to send rain.”

Children were also sacrificed to Tlaloc. Says Moto-
linia, when four years came together in which there
was no rain, and there remained as a consequence hardly
any green thing in the fields, the people waited till the
maize grew as high as the knee, and then made a gene-
ral subscription with which four slave children, of five
or six years of age, were purchased. These they sacri-
ficed in a cruel manner by closing them up in a cave,
which was never opened except on these occasions.”

According to Mendieta, again, children were some-

% Camargo, Hist. de Tlaxcallan, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom.
99, pp. 133, 135-7. vamatae, being a Tlascaltec, most of his writings
have particular reference to his own province, but in this as in other places
he seems to be describing general Mexican customs,

& The text without saying ey that these unfortunate children were
closed there alive appears to infer it: ‘Cuando el maiz estaba 4 la rodilla,
para un dia repartian y echaban pecho, con que compraban cuatro niiios
esclavos de edad de cinco & seis aiios, y sacrificAbanlos 4 Tlaloc, dios del
agua, poniéndolos en una cueva, y cerrébanla hasta otro aiio que hacian lo
ar a Este cruel sacrificio.’ Motolinia, in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc,, tom. i.,

p. 4

832 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

times offered to this god by drowning. The children
were put into a canoe which was carried to a certain part
of the lake of Mexico where was a whirlpool, which is
no longer visible. Here the boat was sunk with its
living cargo. These gods had, according to the same
author, altars in the neighborhood of pools especially
near springs; which altars were furnished with some
kind of roof, and at the principal fountains were four
in number set over against each other in the shape of a
cross—the cross of the rain god.”

The Vatican Codex says, that in April a boy was
sacrificed to Tlaloc and his dead body put into the maize
granaries or maize fields—it is not clearly apparent which
—to preserve the food of the people from spoiling.” It
is to Sahagun, however, that we must turn for the most
complete and authentic account of the festivals of Tlaloc
with their attendant sacrifices.

In the first days of the first month of the year, which
month is called in some parts of Mexico, Quavitleloa,
but generally Atlcaoalo, and begins on the second of our
February, a great feast was made in honor of the Tlalocs,
gods of rain and water. For this occasion many chil-
dren at the breast were purchased from their mothers;
those being chosen that had two whirls (remolinos) in
their hair, and that had been been born under a good
sign; it being said that such were the most agreeable
sacrifice to the storm gods, and most likely to induce
them to send rain in due season. Some of these infants
were butchered for this divine holiday on certain moun-
tains, and some were drowned in the lake of Mexico.
With the beginning of the festival, in every house, from
the hut to the palace, certain poles were set up and to

‘Tambien tenian {dolos junto & los agnas, mayormente cerca de las
fuentes, 4 do hacian sus altares con sus gradas cubiertas por enciina, y en

muchas principales fuentes cuatro altares de estos 4 manera de cruz unos

enfrente de otros, y alli en el agua echaban mucho encienso ofrecido y papel.’
Mendiela, Hist. Ecles., pp. 87, 102.
% ‘In questo mese ritornavano ad ornare li tempj, e le immagini come
nello passato, ed in fine delli venti d{ sacrificavano un putto al Dio dell’ ac-
ua, @ lo mettevano infra il maiz, a fine che non si guastasse la provisione
tutto 1’ anno.’ Spie*azione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano, tav. Ix., in
Kingsborough's Mex, Antig., vol, v., p. 191,

thes
daut
bein;
to th
were
neig!
sacri!
Quau
dyed
was |
Victin
red li
tecatl
a well
the 1s
girl, d
zalxoc
Poiaul
hill of
usual
which
sacrific
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were ¢;
The si
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curious]
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"Whe
the cathe
Gf en, tom,

SACRIFICES OF CHILDREN. 888

these were attached strips of the paper of the country,
daubed over with india-rubber gum, said strips
being called amatetewitl; this was considered an honor
to the water-gods. And the first place where children
were killed was Quauhtepetl, a high mountain in the
neighborhood of Tatelulco; all infants, boys or girls,
sacrificed there were called by the name of the place,
Quauhtepetl, and were decorated with strips of paper
dyed red. The second place where children were killed
was Yoaltecatl, a high mountain near Guadalupe. The
victims were decorated with pieces of black paper, with
red lines on it, and were named after the place, Yoal-
tecatl. The third death-halt was made at Tepetzingo, a
a well-known hillock that rose up from the waters of
the lake opposite Tlatelulco; there they killed a little
girl, decking her with blue paper, and calling her Qute-
zalxoch, for so was this hillock called by another name.
Poiauhtla, on the boundary of Tlascala, was the fourth
hill of sacrifice. Here they killed children, named as
usual after the locality, and decorated with paper on
which were lines of india-rubber oil. The fifth place of
sacrifice was the no longer visible whirlpool or sink of
the lake of Mexico, Pantitlan. Those drowned here
were called Epcoatl, and their adornment epuepaniuhqu’.
The sixth hill of death was Cocotl,* near Chalcoatenco;
the infant victims were named after it and decorated
with strips of paper of which half the number were red
and half a tawny color. The mount Yiauhqueme, near
Atlacuioaia, was the seventh station; the victims being
named after the place and adorned with paper of a tawny
color.

All these miserable babes before being carried to
their death were bedecked with precious stones and
rich feathers and with raiment and sandals wrought
curiously; they put upon them paper wings (as if
they were angels); they stained their faces with oil of

% ‘Whence is derived the name cocoles, by which the boys of the choir of

the cathedral of Mexico are now known,’ Bustamante, note to Sahagan, Hist.
en., tom. i., lib. ii., p. 85.

834 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

india-rubber, and on the middle of each tiny cheek they
painted a round spot of white. Not able yet to walk,
the victims were carried in litters shining with jewels
and awave with plumes; flutes and trumpets bellowed
and shrilled round the little bedizened heads, all so un-
fortunate in their two whirls of hair, as they passed
along; and everywhere as the litters were borne by, all
the people wept. When the procession reached the
temple near Tepetzinco, on the east, called Tozocan,
the priests rested there all night, watching and singing
songs, so that the little ones could not sleep. In the
morning the march was again resumed; if the children
wept copiously those around them were very glad, say-
ing it was a sign that much rain would fall; while if
they met any dropsical person on the road it was taken
for a bad omen and something that would hinder the
rain. If any of the temple ministers, or of the others
called guaquavitli, or of the old men, broke off from the
procession or turned back to their houses before they
came to the place where the sacrifice was done, they
were held for infamous and unworthy of any public of-
fice; thenceforward they were called mocauhque, that is
to say, ‘ deserters,’”

More ludicrous than diabolical are the ceremonies of
the next feast of Tlaloc. In the sixth Aztec month, the
month Etzalqualixtli, there was held a festival in honor
of the gods of water and rain. Before the commence-
ment of this festival the idol priests fasted four days,
and before beginning to fast they made a procession
to a certain piece of water, near Citlaltepec, to gather
tules; for at that place these rushes grew very tall and
thick and what part of them was under water was
very white. There they pulled them up, rolled them
in bundles wrapped about with their blankets, and
so carried them back on their shoulders. Both on going
out for these rushes and on coming back with them, it
was the custom to rob anyone that was met on the road ;

% Kingsborongh’s Mex. Antiq., vol. vii., pp. 37-8; Sahagun, JTist. Gen., tom.
i., lib. ii., pp. 84-7. we link lett!

and
wer¢
No
mas
an
trate
in go
cleric
over
their
plaite
mats,
of the
The fi
and p
buildi
agques,
war, tl
althou;
resorte
retired
that hi
though
when ¢
that are
resided
had as ;
also ret
Means ‘
sacristan
Next,
were cal
mats of
the heart
ceeded ti

put on ;
Vy i

utd
ie rig

SPOLIATION OF CESAR FOR THE CHURCH. 835

and as every one knew of this custom the roads
were generally pretty clear of stragglers about this time.
No one, not even a kine’s officer returning to his
master with tribute, could hope to escape on such
an occasion, nor to obtain from any court or magis-
trate any indemnification for loss or injury so sustained
in goods or person; and if he made any resistance to his
clerical spoilers they beat and kicked and dragged him
over the ground. When they reached the temple with
their rushes they spread them out on the ground and
plaited them, white with green, into as it were painted
mats, sewing them firm with threads of maguey-root;
of these mats they made stools, and chairs with backs.
The first day of the fast arrived, all the idol ministers
and priests retired to their apartments in the temple
buildings. There retired all those callea ‘lamacaztequio-
agues, that is to say, ‘priests that have done feats in
war, that have captured three or four prisoners;’ these
although they did not reside continually in the temple,
resorted thither at set times to fulfil their offices. There
retired also those called tlamacazcayiaque. that is, ‘ priests
that have taken one prisoner in war; these also, al-
though not regular inmates of the cues, resorted thither,
when called by their duties. There retired also those
that are called tdamacazquecuicanime, ‘ priest singers,’ who
resided permanently in the temple building because they
had as yet captured no one in war. Last of all those
also retired that were called tlamacaztezcahoan, which
means ‘inferior ministers,’ and those boys, like little
sacristans, who were called tlamacatoton, ‘little ministers.’
Next, all the rush mats that had been made which
were called aztapilpetlatl, ‘jaspered mats of rushes, or
mats of white and green’ were spread round about
the hearths (hogares) of the temple, and the priests pro-
ceeded to invest themselves for their offices. They
put on » kind of jacket that they had, called zicolli, of
1 “cloth; on the left arm they put a kind of scarf,
wxtli; inthe eft hand they took a bag of copal, and

ne right a censer, ¢emaitl, which is a kind of sauce-

0 too F

886 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

pan or fryiv.g-pan of baked clay. Then they entered into
the cour‘-yard of the tempie, took up their station in
the middle of it, put live cals into their censers, added
copal, and offered incense toward the four quarters of
the world, east, north, west, and south. This done
they emptied the cvals from their incense-pans into the
great brasiers that were always burning at night in the
court, brasiers somewhat less in height than the height
of a man, and so thick that two men could with difficulty
clasp them.

This over, the priests returned to the temple build-
ings, calmecac, and ut off their ornaments. Then they
offered before the hearth little balls of dough, called
vertelolotli; each priest offering four, arranging them on
the aforementioned rush mats, and putting them down
witi great care, so that they should not roll nor move;
and if the balls of any one stirred, it was the duty of
his fellows to call attention to the matter and have him
punished therefor. Some offered instead of dough four
little pies or four pods of green pepper. A careful scru-
tiny was also observed to see if any one had any dirt on
his blanket, or any bit of thread or hair or feather, and
that no one should trip or fall; for in such a case he had
to be punished ; and as a consequence every man took good
heed to all his steps and ways during these four days.
At the end of each day’s offerings, certain old men, called

uacuiltin, came, their faces dyed black, and their
eads shaved, save only the crown of the head, where
the hair was allowed tc grow long, the reverse of the
custom of the Christian priests, ‘These old men daily
collected the offerings that had been made, dividing
them among themselves. It was further the custom
with all the priests and in all the temples, while fasting
these’ four days, to be wakened at midnight by the blast
of horns and shells and other instruments; when all
rose up and, utterly naked, went to where were
certain thorns of maguey, cut for the purpose the day
before, and with little lancets of stone they hacked their
ears, staining the prepared thorns of maguey and be-

smes
man
pro
oben
. them;
the m
clay.
ders, |
in the
and m
pellets
along,
thorns
use, |]
live cog
walked
span br
some w
rattled
them,”
four rem
ing, or c¢
during t!
calmecac

gods, in

four quar
hight one
‘En aqt

de estiercol
con tinta y co

BATHING IN THE FESTIVAL OF TLALOO, 887

smearing their faces with the blood thut flowed; each
man staining maguey-thorns with his blood in number
proportioned to his devotion, some five, others more,
others less. This done all the priests went to bathe
_ themselves, how cold soever it might be, attended by
the music of marine shells and shrill whistles of baked
clay. Every one had a little bag strapped to his shoul-
ders, ornamented with tassels or strips of painted paper;
in these bags was carried 4 sort of herb ground fine
and made up with a kind of biack dye into little longish
pellets. The general body of the priests marched
along, each one carrying a leaf of maguey in which the
thorns were stuck, as in a pincushion, which he had to
use. Before these went a priest with his censer full of
live coals and a bag of copal; and in advance of all these
walked one carrying a board on his shoulder of about a
span broad and two yards long, hollowed apparently in
some way, and filled with little rollers of wood that
rattled and sounded as the bearer went. along shaking
them.” All the priests took part in this procession, only
four remaining behind to take care of the temple-build-
ing, or calmecac, which was their monastery. These four
during the absence of the others remained seated in the
calmecac and occupied themselves in devotion to the
gods, in singing and in rattling with a hollow board
of the sort mentioned above. At the piece of water
where the priests were to bathe there were four houses,
called awaucalli, ‘ fog houses,’ set each toward one of the
four quarters of the compass; in the ablutions of the first
night one of these houses was occupied, on the second

% * En aquellas talegas levaban una manera de harina hecha 4 la manera
de estiercol de ratones, que ellos Ilamaban yyaqualli, que era conticionada °
con tinta y con polvos da una yerva que ellos llaman yietll; és como veleiios
de Castilla,’ Kingsborough's Mew, Antiq., vol. vii., p. 51.

7 Sahagun gives two diferent accounts of this instrument: ‘Una tabla tan
larga como dos varas, y ancha como un palmo 6 poco mas, Yvan dentro de
estas tablas unas sonajas, y el que le levaba iva sonando con ellas. Liama-
ban 4 esta tabla Axochicaoaliztli, 6 Nacatlquoavitl.’ 'he second description
is: ‘Una tabla de anchura de un palmo y de largura de dos brazas; 4 trechos
ivan unos sonajas en esta tabla, unos pedazuelos de madero rollizos y atados

‘la misma tabla, y dentro de ella ivan sonando los unos con los otros. Esta
tabla ie. Namaba aiauhchicaoastli.’ Kingsborough's Mex, Antig., vol. vii., pp.

1 and 53,
Von, III, 22

, See

Sg ee Ee ee ee es ee ee ee ee Oe ee ig ee ee a epee ee he ee ee

838 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

night another, and so on through all the four nights and
four houses of the fog. Here also were four tall poles
standing up out of the water. And the unfortunate
bathers, naked from the outset as we remember, reached
this place trembling and their teeth chattering with
cold. One of their number mumbled a few words,
which being translated mean: this is the place of
snakes, the place of mosquitos, the place of ducks, and
the place of rushes. This said, all flung themselves into
the water and began to splash with their hands and
feet, making a great noise and imitating the cries of
various aquatic birds.” When the bathing was over,
the naked priests took their way back accompanied by
the music of pipes and shells. Half dead with cold and
weariness they reached the temple, where drawing their
mantles over them they flung themselves down in a con-
fused heap on the rush mats, so often mentioned, and
slept as best they could. We are told that some talked
in their sleep, and some walked about in it, and some
snored, and some sighed in a painful manner. There
they lay in a tangled weary heap not rising till noon of
the next day.

The first thing ta be done on waking was to array
themselves in their canonicals, take their censers,
and to follow an old priest called Quaquacuilti to all
the chapels and altars of the idols, incensing them.
After this they were at liberty to eat; they squatted
down in groups, and to each one was given such food as
had been sent to him from his own house; and if any one
took any of the portion of another, or even exchanged his
for that of another, he was punished for it. Punish-

‘ment also attended the dropping of any morsel while
eating, if the fault were not atoned for by a fine. After
this meal, they all went to cut down branches of a cer-

%‘Comengiban 4 vocear y 4 gritar y a contrahacer Jas aves del agua,
unos 4 los anades, otros 4 unas aves zancudas del agua que iama pipititi,
otros 4 los cuervos marinos, otros 4 las garzotas blancas, otros 4 las garzas.
Aqudllas paldbras que decia el satrapa parece que eran invocacion dei Pe-
monio para hablar aquellos lenguages de aves en al agua,’ Kingasborough's
Mex, Antiq,, val, vii,, p. 61,

tain
founc
temp!
with |
signal
part o
any 0)
compa
—a p
accuse!
ing, eit
poor, a
Thes
man be
in his ¢
general
out like
ing pots
They. 8!
you do |
your ho
revels b
indeed |
glory: u
parent n
rot-feath
fastened
the nape
crumpled
down on
Was paint
of marcas!
of tiger-s]
which clat
been thre
tiger's tail,
us two lai
certain he
® 'Yauhtla

RELIGIOUS DISCIPLINE. 889

tain kind called acxoiatl, or, where these were not to be
found, green canes instead, and to bring them to the
temple in sheaves, There they sat down, every man
with his sheaf, and waited for an arranged signal. The
signal given, every one sprang up to some appointed
part of the temple to decorate it with his boughs; and if
any one went to a place not his, or wandered from his
companions, or lagged behind them, they punished him
—a punishment only to be remitted by paying to his
accuser, within the four days of which we are now speak-
ing, either a hen or a b.»1 ket or a breech-clout, or, if very
poor, a ball of dough in a cup.

These four days over, the festival was come, and every
man began it by eating ezalli, a kind of maize porridge,
in his own house. For those that wished it there was
general dancing and rejoicing. Many decked themselves
out like merry-andrews and went about in parties carry-
ing pots, going from house to house, demanding etzalli.
They sang and danced before the door, and said, “If
you do not give me some porridge, I will knock a hole in
your house; whereupon the etzalli was given. These
revels began at midnight and ceased at dawn, Then
indeed did the priests array themselves in all their
glory: underneath was a jacket, over that a thin trans-
parent mantle called aiauhquemitl, decorated with par-
rot-feathers set cross-wise. Between the shoulders they
fastened a great round paper flower, like a shield. To
the nape of the neck hae attached other flowers of
crumpled paper of a semi-circular shape; these hung
down on both sides of the head like ears, The forehead
was painted blue and over the paint was dusted powder
of marcasite. In the right hand was carried a bag made
of tiger-skin, and embroidered with little white shells
which clattered as one walked. The bag seems to have
been three-cornered; from one angle hung down the
tiger's tail, from another his two fore feet, from another
his two liind feet. It contained incense made from a
certain herb called yiauhtli.™ There went one priest

® ‘Yauhtlaulli or Yauitl, mayz moreno o negro,’ Molina, Vocabulario,

840 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

bearing a hollow board filled with wooden rattles, as
before described. In advance of this personage there
marched a number of others, carrying in their arms
images of the gods made of that gum that is black and
leaps, called wh (india-rubber), these images were called
wlteteu, that is to say ‘gods of ulli.’ Other ministers
there were carrying in their arms lumps of copal, shaped
like sugar loaves; each pyramid having a rich feather,
called quetzal, stuck in the peak of it like a plume, In
this manner went the procession with the usual horns
and shells, and the purpose of it was to lead to punish-
ment those that had transgressed in any of the points
we have already discussed. The culprits were marched
along, some held by the hair at the nape of the neck,
others by the breech-clout; the boy offenders were held
by the hand, or, if very small, were carried. All these
were brought to a place called Totecco, where water was,
Here certain ceremonies were performed, paper was
burned in sacrifice, as were also the pyramids of copal
and images of ulli, incense being thrown into the fire
and other incense scattered over the rush mats with
which the place was adorned. While this was going on
those in charge of the culprits had not been idle, but
were flinging them into the water. Great was the noise,
it is said, made by the splash of one tossed in, and the
water leaped high with the shock. As any one came to
the surface or tried to scramble out he was pushed in or
pushed down again—well was it then for him who could
swim, and by long far diving keep out of the reach of
his tormentors, For the others they were so roughly
handled that they were often left for dead on the water's
edge, where their relatives would come and hang them
up by the feet to let the water they had swallowed run
out of them; a method of cure surely as bad as the
malady.

The shrill music struck up again and the procession
returned by the way it had come; the friends of the
punished ones carrying them, The monastery or cal-
mecac reached, there began another four days’ fast,

callec
quitte
least «

for a
fast y
corate:
painter
mixed
ried th
—bags
chief p

in the
satchels
acuilotl,
In proce
priest of
work, fit
out abov
It. His
gum, blac
a great ne
waist, A
they pray
they sto i
dusted tht
yiauhtli j
four roun
small hook
and as he
drawing ba
round. HH
he took the
with it—
Imitation o
one retired
his orname
ducked we
the rest an
That night

THE FOUR BALLS, 841

ried the incense-
—bags made of

four round chalchiui
small hook painted bl
and as he touched each h
rawing back his hand, an
tte

‘ sca
he took the board with
with it—perhaps a ki
imitation of the t
one retired to his

842 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BRINGS, AND WORSHIP.

the musical instruments of the cu itself were sounded,
the great drums and the shrill shells. Well watched
that night were the prisoners who were doomed to death
on the morrow. When it came they were adorned with
the trappings of the Tlaloc gods—for it was said they
were the images of these gods—and those that were
killed first were said to be the foundation of the others,
which seemed to be symbolized by those who had to die
last being made to seat themselves on those who had
been first killed.”

The slaughter over, the hearts of the victims were put
into a pot that was painted blue and stained with ulli in
four places. Together with this pot offerings were taken
of paper and feathers and precious stones and chalchiuites,
and a party set out with the whole for that part of the
lake where the whirlpool is, called Pantitlan. All who
assisted at this offering and sacrifice were provided with
a supply of the herb called izauhiatl, which is something
like the incense used in Spain, and they puffed it with
their mouths over each other’s faces and over the faces
of their children. This they did to hinder maggots
getting into the eyes, and also to protect against a certain
disease of the eyes called evocuillo-o-aliatli; some also put
this herb into their ears, and others for a certain super-
stition they had held a handful of it clutched in the hand.
The party entered a great canoe belonging to the king,
furnished with green oars, or paddles, spotted with ulli,
and rowed swiftly to the place Pantitlan, where the
whirlpool was. This whirlpool was surrounded by logs
driven into the bottom of the lake like piles—probably
to keep canoes from being drawn into the sink. These
logs being reached, the priests, standing in the bows of
the royal vessel, began to play on their horns and shells.
Conspicuous among them stood their chief holding the

30 * Comenzaban luego 4 matar 4 los captivos; aquellos que primero mata-
ban decian que eran el fundamento de los que eran imagen de los Tlaloques,
que ivan aderezados con los ornamentos de los mismos Tlaloques que (ivan
aderezadon) decian eran sus imagenes, y asi los que morian 4 la postre ivanse
C sone none los que primero habian muerto.’ Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq..
vol vii, p. 54,

cut out ¢
gether
tion or @
the mou
of the
those th
or whose

3! Kingabo
tom, i, Itt

IMAGES OF THE MOUNTAINS. 843

pot containing the hearts; he flung them far into the
whirling hollow of water, and it is said that when the
hearts plunged in, the waters were strangely moved and
stirred into waves and foam. The precious stones were
also thrown in, and the papers of the offering were
fastened to the stakes with a number of the chalchiuites
and other stones. <A priest took a censer and put four
papers called ¢elhuiti into it, and burned them, offering
them toward the whirlpool; then he threw them, censer
and all, still burning into the sink. That done, the
canoe was put about and rowed to the landing of Teta-
macolco, and every one bathed there.

All this took place between midnight and morning,
and when the light began to break the whole body of
the priests went to bathe in the usual place. They
washed the blue paint off their heads, save only on the
forehead ; and if there were any offences of any priest to
be punished he was here ducked and half drowned as
described above. Lastly all returned to their monas-
teries, and the green rush mats spread there were thrown
out behind each house.”

We have given the description of two great festivals
of the Tlalocs,—two being «all that are mentioned by
many authorities —there still remain, however, two
other notable occasions on which they were propitiated
and honored.

In the thirteenth month, which was called Tepeilhuitl,
and which began, according to Clavigero, on the 24th of
October, it was the custom to cut certain sticks into the
shape of snakes. Certain images as of children were also
cut out of wood, and these dolls, called hecatotonti, to-
gether with the wooden snakes, were used as a founda-
tion or centre round whicl to build up little effigies of
the mountains; wherein the Tlalocs were honored as gods
of the mountains, and wherein memorial was had of
those that had been drowned, or killed by thunderbolts,
or whose bodies had been buried without cremation—the

31 Kingsborough's Mex, Antig., vol. vii. . 49-55; Sa , Mist, Gen,
tom, i, Mb. ii., op. 111-124. M » PP 3 Sahagun :

344 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

dolls perhaps representing the bodies of these, and the
snakes the thunderbolts. Having then these wooder
dolls and snakes as a basis, they were covered with dough
mixed from the seeds of the wild amaranth; over each
doll certain papers were put; round one snake and one
doll, set back to back, there appears next to have been
bound a wisp of hay, (which wisp was kept from year to
year and washed on the vigil of every feast), till the
proper shape of a mountain was arrived at; over the
whole was then daubed a layer of dough, of the kind
already mentioned. We have now our image of the
mountain with two heads looking opposite ways, stick-
ing out from its summit. Round this summit there
seem to have been stuck rolls of dough representing the
clouds usually formed about the crests of high mountains.
The face of the human image that looked out over these
dough clouds was daubed with melted ulli; and to both
cheeks of it were stuck little tortillas, or cakes of the
everywhere-present dough of wild amaranth seeds, On
the head of this same image was put a crown with feath-
ers issuing from it.” These images were made at night,

32 This passage relating to the making of images of the mountains is such

a chaotic jumble in the original that one is forced to use largely any con-
structive imagination one may possess to reproduce even a comprehensible
description, I give the original; if any one can make rhyme or reason out
of it by a closer following of the words of Sahagun, he shall not want the
opportunity: ‘ Al trece mes Mamaban Tepeilhuitl. En la fiesta que se hacia
en este mes cubriah de masa de bledos unos palos que tenian hechos como
culebras, y hacian imagenes de montes fundadas sobre unos palos hechos 4
manera de nijios que llamaban Hecatotonti: era la imagen del monte de
masa de bledos. Ponianle delante junto unas masas rollizas y larguillas de
maga de bledos 4 manera de bezos, y estos Ilamaban Yomiio. Hacian estas
anagenes 4 honra de los montes altos donde se juntan las nubes, y en memo-
ria de los que habian muerto en agua 6 heridos de rayo, y de los que no se
quemaban sus cuerpos sino que los enterraban, tos montes hacianlos
sobre unos rodeos 6 roscas hechas de heno atadas con zacate, y guardabanlas
de un afio para otro. La vigilia de esta fiesta levaban 4 lavar estas roscas
al rio 6 4 la fuente, y quando las llevaban ivanlas taiiendo con unos pitos
hechos de barro cocido 6 con unos caracoles mariscos, Lavabanlas en unas
casas ti oratorias que estaban hechos 4 la orilla del agua que se llama Ayauh
calli, Lavabanlas con unas ojas de cafias verdes; algunos con el agua que
pasaba por su casa las lavaban. En acabandolas de lavar volvianias 4 su
casa con la misma musica; luego hacian sobre ellas las imagenes de Jos
montes como esté dicho. py inti hacian estas imagenes de noche antes de
amanecer cerca del dia; la cabeza de cada un monte, tenia dos caras, una de
reona y otra de culebra, y untaban Ja cara de persona con ulli derretido, y

n unas tortillas prequefiuelas de masa de bledos amarillos, y ponianlas

en las mexillas de la cara de persona de una parte y de otra; cubrianlos con

was eate!
the said
over thy
whole wa
every one

unos les
cabemie tons
an sobre aqu
magenes en
juncos,’ King

» being thrown into a
& great spoon full of

The four
Tepoxch, Matlalquac,
ast was d

ests. The
heads were

e rafters of the
every one had in hig ouse; there to remain

que lMamaban Tetouitli; onianios unag coronas en lag
Tambien & log ‘agenes de log my
d zacate, y lue en amane
sobre unos lechos de 1 pedatiag
ee, Antig., vol. vii, pp. 71- le

above mention ;
whole was fastened up in th

Oratory that
till required

346 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

for the next year's feast of the same kind; on which
occasion, and asa preliminary to the other ceremonies
which we have already described in the first part of this
feast, the people took down the paper and the wisp from
their private oratories, and carried them to the public
oratory called the acaucalli, left the paper there, and re-
turned with the wisp to make of it anew the image of o
mountain.”

The fourth and last festival of Tlaloc which we
have to describe, fell in our December and in the six-
teenth Aztec month, called the month Atemuztli. About
this time it began to thunder round the mountain-tops,
and the first rains to fall there; the common people said,
‘‘ Now come the Tlalocs,” and for love of the water they
made vows to make images of the mountains—not, how-
ever, as it would appear, such images as have been de-
scribed as appertaining to the preceding festival. The
priests were very devout at this season and very earnest
in prayer, expecting the rain. They took each man his
incense-pan or censer, made like a great spoon with a
long round hollow handle filled with rattles and termi-
nating in a snake's head, and offered incense to all the
idols. Five days before the beginning of the feast the
common people bought paper and ulli and flint knives
and a kind of coarse cloth called neguen, and devoutly
prepared themselves with fasting and penance to make
their images of the mountains and to cover them with
paper. In this holy season, although every one bathed,
he washed no higher than the neck, the head was left
unwashed; the men, moreover, abstained from their
wives. The night preceding the great feast-diy was
spent wholly, flint knife in hand, cutting out paper into
various shapes. These papers called ¢efevit/, were stained
with ulli; and every householder got a long pole, covered
it with pieces of this paper, and set it up in his court-
yard, where it remained all the day of the festival.
‘hose that had vowed to make images of the mountains

33 Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. vii., pp. 71-38; Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom.
i., lib. ii., pp, 159-162,

inv.
prie
me
—a
wild
somd
othe
for s
the
Tlase
set i
one y
portic
sweet
other
night
ner fo
and p
emplo
were p
the mo
master
wooden
breasts
living n
which t
the hot
which 1
certain
pose, an
n put
The ashe
been car
the shore
ceremoni
of the 1
Women

4 ' Trota
tela que se t

KILLING IMAGES OF THE MOUNTAINS. 847

invited priests to their houses to do it for them. The
priests came, bearing their drums and rattles and instru-
ments of music of tortoise-shell. They made the images
—apparen‘ly like human figures—out of the dough of
wild amaianth seed, and covered them with paper. In
some houses there were made five of such images, in
others ten, in others fifteen; they were figures that stood
for such mountains as the clouds gather round, such as
the volcano of the Sierra Nevada or that of the Sierra of
Tlascala. These images being constructed, they were
set in order in the oratory of the house, and before each
one was set food—very small pies, on small platters, pro-
portionate to the little image, small boxes holding a little
sweet porridge of maize, little calabashes of cacao, and
other small green calabashes containing pulque. In one
night they presented the figures with food in this man-
ner four times. . All the night too they sang before them,
and played upon flutes; the regular flutists not being
employed on this occasion, but certain small boys who
were paid for their trouble with something to eat. When
the morning came, the ministers of the idols asked the
master of the house for his ¢zotzopazth, a kind of broad
wooden knife used in weaving,” and thrust it into the
breasts of the images of the mountains, as if they were
living men, and cut their throats and drew out the hearts,
which they put in a green cup and gave to the owner of
the house. This done, they took all the paper with
which these images had been adorned, together with
certain green mats that had been used for the same pur-
pose, and the utensils in which the offering of food had
been put, and burned all in the court-yard of the house.
The ashes and the mutilated images seem then to have
been carried to a public oratory called Aiauhcalco, on
the shore of the lake. Then all who assisted at these
ceremonies joined themselves to eat and drink in honor
of the mutilated images, which were called tepieme.
Women were allowed to join in this banquet provided

4 Tzotzopaztli, palo ancho como cuchilla con que tupen y aprietan la
tela que se texe,’ Aeatina, Vocabulario, " roe

848

they brought fifteen or twenty heads of maize with them;
they received every one his or her share of food and
pulque. The puique was kept in black jars and lifted out
to be drunk with black cups. This banquet over, the
paper streamers were taken down from the poles set up
in the court-yards of the houses and carried to certain
places in the water that were marked out by piles driven
in—we may remember that our whirlpool of Pantitlan,
in the lake of Mexico, was one place so marked—and to
to the tops of the mountains, and left there as it would
a la

In taking leave here of Tlaloc I may draw attention
to the prominence in his cult of the number four, the
cross, and the snake; and add that as lord of one of the
three Aztec divisions of the future world, lord of the
terrestrial paradise, we shall meet with him again in
our examination of the Mexican ideas of a future life.

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Oe ie lee. Antig., vol. vii., pp. 80-1; Sahagun, Hist. Gen.,
tom. i., lib. ii., 76-9, ye 10. Farther notice ‘of Tlaloc and his wor-
ship ° will be {id ‘in the 8 plogastone delle Tavole del Codice Me no, tav.
xxviii, gt, Pigs gt .» in Kingsborough’s Mea. a re V+» PP 179, 190-2;
Botur' fs alin 2-3, 99, 101; Amer. Ethnol. 8 Transact. . vol. i. ,P. 305;
Heolinia, al note in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doe., Sab: i., pp. 32, 35, 42, 44-6:
Torquemada, M Ind., tom. i., p. 290, and tom. ii., pp. 45-6, 119, 121,
Ag eo 212, 951-42 “Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. ii., lib. vi., cap. xv.; Gomara,

. Mex., tol. 216; Tylor’ Pr Prim.’ Cult., vol. ii., po. 235, 243; Miller,
Tantan he Urreligionen, pp. 500-4 et passim.

SACRIFICE
ENDAR, F.

Centeot
thorities a,
characters,
the Aztecs,
peoples,
from the ir
ture, and of
various nar
the maize a
ave origin
(849)

CHAPTER IX.

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Tue MorgER OR ALI-NOURISHING GODDESS UNDER VARIOUS NAMES AND IN
VARIOUS ASPECTS—HER Feast IN THE ELEVENTH AZTEC MONTH OcHP-
ANIZTLI — FESTIVALS OF THE EIGHTH MONTH, HUEYTECUILHUITL, AND
oF THE Fourtu, HueytozozTLI—THE DEIFICATION OF WOMEN THAT DIED
IN CHILD-BIRTH—THE GopDEss OF WATER UNDER VARIOUS NAMES AND
IN VARIOUS ASPECTS—CEREMONIES OF THE BAPpTisM OR LUSTRATION OF
CHILDREN—THE GoppDEss oF LOVE, HER VARIOUS NAMES AND AS?@ECTS—
Rires OF CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION—THE GOD OF FIRE AND HIS VARI-
OUS NAMES—HIS FESTIVALS IN THE TENTH MONTH XOCOTLVETI AND IN
THE EIGHTEENTH MONTH YZCALI; ALSO HIS QUADRIENNIAL FESTIVAL IN
THE LATTER MONTH—THE GREAT FESTIVAL OF EVERY FIFTY-TWO YEARS;
LIGHTING THE NEW FIRE—THE GoD OF HADES, AND TEOYAOMIQUE, COLLEC-
TOR OF THE SOULS OF THE FALLEN BRAVE—DEIFICATION OF DEAD RULERS AND
HEROES—MIxcoaTL, GOD OF HUNTING AND HIS FEAST IN THE FOURTEENTH
MONTH, QUECHOLLI—VARIOUS OTHER MEXICAN DEITIES—FESTIVAL IN THE
SECOND MONTH, TLACAXIPEHUALIZTLI, WITH NOTICE OF THE GLADIATORIAL
SACRIFICES-—-COMPLETE SYNOPSIS OF THE FESTIVALS OF THE Mexican CaL-
ENDAR, FIXED AND MOVABLE—TEMPLES AND PRIESTS.

Centeotl is a goddess, or according te some good au-
thorities a god, who held, under many names and in many
characters, a most important place in the divine world of
the Aztecs, and of other Mexican and Central American -
peoples. She was goddess of maize, and consequently,
from the importance in America of this grain, of agricul-
ture, and of the producing earth generally. Many of her
various names seem dependent on the varying aspects of
the maize at different stages of its growth; others seem to

have originated in the mother-like nourishing qualities
(349)

350 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

of the grain of which she was the deity. Miiller lays
much stress on this aspect of her character: ‘‘ The force
which sustains life must also have created it. Centeotl
was therefore considered as bringing children to light,
and is represented with an infant in her arms, Nebel
gives us such a vepresentation, and in our Mexican
museum ct Basel there are many images in this form,
made of burnt clay. Where agricuiture rules, there
more children are brought tv mature age than among
the hunting nations, and the land revels in a large popu-
lation. No part of the world is so well adapted to
exhibit this difference as America. Centeotl! is conse.
quently the great producer, not of children merely, she
is the great goddess, the most ancient goddess,” ?

Centeotl was known, according to Clavigero, by the
titles Tonacajohua, ‘she who sustains us; Tzinteotl,
‘original goddess; and by the further names Xilonen,
Iztacacenteotl, and Tlatlauhquicenteotl. She was fur-
ther, according to the same author, identical with To-
nantzin, ‘our mother, and, according to Miiller and
many Spanish authorities, either identical or closely con-
nected with the various deities known as Teteionan, ‘ the
mother of the gods,’? Cihuatcoatl, ‘ the snake-woman,’
Tazi or Toci or Tocitzin, ‘our grandmother,’ and Earth,
the universal material mother. Squier says of Tiazol-
teotl, that ‘she is Cinteotl the goddess of maize, under
another aspect.” ®

She was particularly honored by the Totonacs, with

1 Miller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, p, 493,

2 Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Messivo, tom, ii., pp. 16, 22, indeed says that
Teteionan and Tocitzin are ‘ certainly different.

3 Squier's Serpent Symbol, p. 47. A passage which makes the principal ele-
ment of the character of Toci or Tocitzin that of Goddess of Discord may
be condensed from Acosta, as follows: When the Mexicans, in their
wanderings, had settled for a time in the territory of Culhuacan, they were
instructed by their god Huitzilopochtli to go forth and make wars, and first
to apotheosize, after his directions, a Goddess of Discord, Following these
directions, they sent to the king of Culhuacan for his daughter to be their
queen, Moved by the honor, the father sent lis hapless daughter, gorge-
ously attired, to be enthroned. But the wiley, superstitious, and ferocious
Mexicans slew the girl and flayed her, and clothed a young man in her skin,

calling him ‘their goddess and mother of their god,’ under the name of
yg that is ‘grand mother.’ See also Purchas, His Pilygrimes, vol. iv.,
O04,

p.

4 Cl
Telleria
Spieqaz
kssai P
lices to
by the
the ear
(which
sail thi
oth ors o
(as Mr d
the idea

any give
lel Codie
trates th
aiistenan
priests;
and that
Maguey,
She pres
the first |
applied t
them, wh
the mini
arrived, !
fortune o
who were
for they
many thir
country, {
god, and |

THE MOTHER-NOURISHER. 851

whom she was the chief divinity. They greatly loved
her, believing that she did not demand human victims,
but was content with flowers and fruits, the fat banana
and the yellow maize, and small animals, such as doves,
quails, and rabbits. More, they hoped that she would in
the end utterly deliver them from the cruel necessity of
such sacrifices, even to the other gods,

With very different feelings, as we shall soon see, did
the Mexicans proper approach this deity, making her
temples horrid with the tortured forms of human sacri-
fices. It shows how deep the stain of the blood was in
the Mexican religious heart, how poisonous far the odor
of it had crept through all the senses of the Aztec soul,
when it could be believed that the great sustainer, the
yellow waving maize, the very mother of all, must be
fed upon the flesh of her own children.‘

To make comprehensible various allusions it seems
well here to sum up rapidly the characters given of cer-

4 Clavijero, Storia Ant, del Messivo, tom, i., pp. 16-22; Explicacion de Codex
Telleriano-Remensis, lam, xii., in Kingsborough's Mex, Antig., vol. v., p. 140;
Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codive Moxivano, tay, xxx., 1b., p. 180; Iumboldt,
hssai Politique, tom, i., p. 217; Schoolerast’s Arch,, vol. vi., p. 631, 'The saeri-
tices to Centeotl, if she be identical with the earth-mother, are illustrated
by the statement of Mendieta, Hist, Keles., p. 81, that the Mexicans painted
the earth-goddess as a frog with a bloody mouth in every joint of her body,
(which frog we shall meet again by and by in a Centeotl festival) for they
stil that the earth devoured all things—a proof also, by the by, among
oth -rs of a like kind which we shall encounter, that not to the Hindoos alone
(as Mr J. G, Miller somewhere affirms), but to the Mexicans also, belonged
the idea of multiplying the organs of their deities to express great powers in
any given direction, The following note from the Spiegazione delle Tavole
lel Codice Mexicano, in Kingsborough'’s Mex, Antiq., vol, v., pp. 179-80, illus.
trates the last point noticed, gives another form or relation a the goddess of
sustenance, and also the origin of the name applied to the Mexican
priests: ‘They feign that Mayaguil was a woman with forr | ondred breasts,
and that the gods, on account of her fruitfulness, changea her into the
Maguey, which is the vine of that country, from which they make wine.
She presided over these thirteen signs; but whoever chanced to be born on
the first sign of the Herb, it proved unlucky to hin: for they say that it was
applied to the Thamaizataguex, who were a race of demons dwelling amongst
them, who according to their account wandered through the air, from whom
the ministers of their temples took their denomination, When this sign
arrived, parents enjoined their children not to leave the house, lest any mis-
fortune or unlucky accident should befall them. ‘They believed that those
who were born in Two Canes, which is the second sign, would be long lived,
for they say that that sign was applied to heaven, They manufacture so
inany things from this plant called the Maguey, and it is so very useful in that
country, that the devil took occasion to induce them to believe that it was a
god, and to worship and offer sacrifices (o it,’

352 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

tain goddesses identical with or resembling in various
points this Centeotl. Chicomecoatl® was, according to
Sahagun, the Ceres of Mexico, and the goddess of provi-
sions, as well of what is drunk as of what is eaten. She
was represented with a crown on her head, a vase in her
right hand, and on her left arm a shield with a great
flower painted thereon; her garments and her sandals

were red.

The first of the Mexican goddesses was, following the
same authority, Cioacoatl, or Civacoatl, the goddess of ad-
verse things, such as poverty, downheartedness, and toil.
She appeared often in the guise of a great lady, wearing
such apparel as was used in the palace; she was also heard
at night in the air shouting and even roaring. Besides her
name Cioacoatl, which means ‘snake-woman,’ she was
known as Tonantzin, that is to say, ‘our mother.’ She
was arrayed in white robes, and her hair was arranged
in front, over her forehead, in little curls that crossed
each other. It was a custom with her to carry a cradle
on her shoulders, as one that carries a child in it, and
after setting it down in the market-place beside the
other women, to disappear. When this cradle was ex-

5 Sahagun, Hist. Gen,, tom. i., lib. i., pp. 5-6; Gallatin, in Amer. Bthnol.
Soc., Transact,, vol. i., pp. 341, 349-50, condensing from and commenting
upon the codices Vaticanus and Tellerianus says: ‘Tonacacigua, alias
Tuchiquetzal (plucking rose), and Chicomecouatl (seven serpents); wite of
Tonacatlecotle; the cause of sterility, famine, and miseries of life

Amongst Sahagun’s superior deities, is found Civacontl, the ‘ serpent women,”
also called Tonantzin, ‘our mother;’ and he, sober as he is in Seriptaral
allusions, calls her Eve, and ascribes to her, as the interpreters [of the
codices] to ‘Tonatacinga, all the miseries and adverse things of the world.
This analogy is, if lam not mistaken, the only foundation for all the allu-
sions to Eve and her history, before, during, and after the sin, whieh the in-
terpreters have tried to extract from paintings which indicate nothing of the
kind, They were certainly mistaken in saying that their ‘Tonacacinga was
also called Chicomecountl, seven serpents, ‘They should have said Civacontl,
the serpent woman. Chivomecoatl, instead of being the cause of sterility,
famine, etc., is, according to Sahogun, the eres abundance, that which
supplies both eating and drinking; probably the same as Tzinteotl, or Cin-
teotl, the goddess of maize (frors centli, maize), which he does not mention.
There is no more foundation for aseribing to Tonacacigua the name of Suchi-
quetzal,’ Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., p. 39, says in effect: Cihuacohuatl,
or snake woman, was supposed to have given birth to two children, male
and female, whence sprung the human race. It is on this account that
twins are called in Mexico cocohua, ‘snakes,’ or in the singular cohuatl or
coatl, now vulgarly pronounced coate,

ling
‘ the
our
scrib
herbs
of th
of t
childi
also t
by lod
bits o
or mag
little
had s
always
her Te
the bat
year, b
victim
evening
her deli
lady, am
weep no
dreadful
two othe
her; the
about all
her iden
goddess y
with ulli,
on her }
rolled rot
stuck plu
the ends
She wore |

lower bor
Von,

MEDICINE-GOppDEsg, 853

it, and with

scribed as the god

edicinal
herbs, as worshiped by doctors, surgeons, blood-letters,
of those that 8ave herbs to

produce abortions, and also
of the diviners that pronounced u

pon the fortune of
children according to their birth, ‘hey worshiped her
also that cast lots with grains of maize, those that augured
by looking into water j » those that cast lots with ;
i i ther, those that drew litt]

ue
v!

ess a feast ever
decorating this
proper to the goddess, Every
evening they danced with this unfortunate, and regaled
her delicate Y; praying her to eat as they would a great
lady, amd amusing her in every way that she might not
weep nor be sad at th

= FR

playing man Y pranks,—by all of which
her identity wit oi seems sufficient] Y clear. his
Boddess was represented with the mouth and chi
with ulli, and @ round patch

stuck plumes it like flames, and
the ends of the cloth fell behind shoulders,
She wore sandals, a shirt with a kind of

serrated
lower border, and white petticoats, In her left hand
OL, HI,

854 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

she held a shield with a round plate of gold in the centre
thereof; in her right hand she held a broom.®
The festival in which divers of the various manifesta-
tions of the mother-goddess were honored, was held in
the beginning of the eleventh Aztec month, begining on
the 14th of September; Centeotl, or Cinteotl, or Cen-
teutl, or Tzinteutl, is however represented therein asa
male and not a female.
Fifteen days before the commencement of the festival
those that took part in it began to dance, if dancing it
could be called, in which the feet and body were hardly
moved, and in which the time was kept by raising and
lowering the hands to the beat of the drum. This went
on for eight days, beginning in the afternoon and finishing
with the set of sun, the dancers being perfectly silent,
arranged. in four lines, and each having both hands full
of flowers, cut branches and all. Some of the youths,
indeed, too restless to bear the silence, imitated with
their mouths the sound of the drum; but all were forced
to keep, as well in motion as in voice, the exactest time
and good order. On the expiration of these eight days
the medical women, both old and young, divided them-
selves into two parties, and fought a kind of mock battle
before the woman that had to die in this festival, to
amuse her and keep tears away; for they held it of bad
augury if this miserable creature gave way to her grief,
and as a sign that many women had to die in child-
birth. This woman who was called for the time being,
‘the image of the mother of the gods,’ led in person the
first attack upon one of the two parties of fighters, being
accompanied by three old women that were to her as
mothers and never left her side, called respectively Aoa,
Tlavitezqui, and Xocuauhtli.’ The fight consisted in
pelting each other with handfuls of red leaves, or leaves
of the nopal, or of yellow flowers called cempoalsuchitl,
the same sort as had been carried by the actors in the

¢ Kingsborough's Mex, Antiq., vol. vii., pp. 8-4; Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom.

i, lib. i., pp. 4-7.
7 Or, according to Bustamante's ed., Aba, Tlavitecqui, and Xoquauchtli.’

Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. i., lib, ii., p. 149,

striving
back- ry
knowin,
& cough
temple-t
man, |
Kine
all des
thighs om
present]
son of T'
taken off,
appear fj
Who was ¢
size, thus
The Tooj
sinewy bu,
chanting 0
Went two I

SACRIFICE To THE MOTHER-GODDE%y, 355

preceding dance, These women all wore girdles, to
which were suspended little Sourds filled with powder
of the herb called yietl. When the was
over, the woman that had to die back to the
house where she was guard i

during four Successive days,

ing Toci, that is to f

856 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

this service, and behind came several other priests. In
front there ran a number of principal men and soldiers,
armed with besoms of blood-stained grass, who looked
back from time to time, and struck their shields as if
provoking a fight; these he pretended to pursue with
great fury, and all that saw this play (which was called
cacacalli) feared and trembled exceedingly. On reach-
ing the cu of Huitzilopochtli, the Toci priest spread out
his arms and stood like a cross before the image of the
war god; this he did four times and then went on to the
cu of Centeotl, whither, as we remember, the skin of the
thighs of the flayed woman had been sent. This skin
of the thighs another young priest, representing the god
Centeotl, son of Toci, had put on over his face like a
mask. In addition to this loathsome veil, he wore a
jacket of feathers and a hood of feathers attached to the
jacket. This hood ran out into a peak of a spiral form
falling behind; and the back-bone or spine of this spiral
resembled the comb of a cock; this hood was called yiz-
tlacoliuhqui, that is to say ‘god of frost.’

The 'Toci priest and the Centeotl priest next went to-
gether to the cu of Toci, where the first waited for
the morning (for all this already described took
place at night) to have certain trappings put on over
his horrid under-vest. When the morning broke,
amid the chanting of the singers, all the principal
men, who had been waiting below, ran with great
swiftness up the steps of the temple carrying their
offerings. Some of these principal men began to cover
the feet and the head of the Toci priest with the white
downy inner feathers of the eagle; others painted his
face red; others put on him a rather short shirt with
the figure of an eagle wrought or woven into the breast
of it, and certain painted petticoats; others beheaded
quails and offered copal. All this done quickly, these
men took their departure.

Then were brought forth and put on the Toci priest
all his rich vestures, and a kind of square crown very
wide above and ornamented with five little banners, one

movin,
drum,
spitted
on the
The tw
represe)
and acer
enemy’s
built. '
the thig
such phe
this cere
territory,
sion, and
After t
OCl was
The king
skin and {
the back 0
army, and
rument, o|
that those |
Mm war, y |

8 Lime
articles of food,

THE SKIN-BEARERs,

357
In in each corner, and in the centre one higher than the
ors, others. All the Captives that had to die were brought
ced | out and set in line, and he took four of them one after
af the other, threw them down on the sacrificial stone and
ith took out their hearts; the rest of the captives he handed
led over to the other Priests to complete the work he had
ch- begun. After t is he set out with the Centeot] priest
out | for the cu of the latter. In advance of these 4 little
the way there walked a party of their devotees, called
the ycuexoan, decorated With Papers, girt for breech-clout
the with twisted per, carrying at their shoulders
cin crumpled Paper, round like a shield, and tassels of un
rod twisted cotton, On either side also there Went thoge
a that sold lime® in the market and the medical women
a moving to the singing of the Priests and the beat of
he drum aving come to the place where heads were
rm spitted at the cu of Centeotl, the Tocj Priest set one foot
ral on the drum and Waited there for the Centeot] priest,
ta The two being come together it would seem that he who
represented Centeot] now set out alone, with much haste
to- and accompanied b many soldiers, for a piace on the
for enemy’s frontier where there was @ kind of small hut
ok built. There at last was deposited and left the skin of
ver the thighs of the sacrifj woman which had Served
ke, such ghastly use, And often, it is said, it happened,
pal this ceremony taking Place on the border of a hostile
rat territory, that the enemy sallied out against the proces.
eir sion, and there was fighting and many were slain.
rer After this the young man who represented the goddess
ite oci was taken to the house that is called Atem
his The king took his seat on a throne with a mat of eagle.
ith skin and feathers under his feet, and a tiger-skin over
ast the back of hig seat, and there was a &rand review of the
ed army, and a distribution from the ro treasury of
Be raiment, ornaments, and arms; and it was understood
that those who received such arms had to die with them
est in war, hig done, dancing wag begun in the court-
Z * Lime wag

much used in the pre On of maize for maki various
articles of food, sitet =

eee

Supe ginny pee eee

858 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

yard of the temple of Toci; and all who had received
presents, as above, repaired thither. This dancing, as in
the first part of the festival, consisted for the most part
in keeping time to the beat of the drum with hands filled
with flowers; so that the whole court looked like a liv-
ing garden; and there was so much gold, for the king
and all the princes were there, that the sun flashed
through all as on water. This began at mid-day and
went on for two days. On the evening of the second
day, the priests of the goddess Chicomecoatl, clothed
with the skins of the captives that had died in a former
day, ascended a small cu called the table of Huitzilo-
pochtli and sowed maize of all kinds, white and yellow and
red, and calabash-seeds, upon the heads of the people
that were below. The people tried to gather up these as
they fell, and elbowed each other a good deal. The
damsels, called cioatlamacazque, that served the goddess
Chicomeccatl, carried each one on her shoulder, rolled in
a rich mantle, seven ears of maize, striped with melted
ulli and wrapped in white paper; their legs and arms
were decorated with feathers sprinkled over with mar-
casite. These sang with the priest of their goddess,
This done, one of the priests descended from the above-
mentioned cu of Huitzilopochtli, carrying in his hand a
large basket filled with powdered chalk and feather-down,
which he set in a small chamber, or little cave, called coar-
apan between the temple-stairs and the temple itself.
This cavity was reached from below by four or five steps,
and when the basket was put down there was a general
rush of the soldiers to be first to secure some of the contents.
Every one, as he got his hands filled, with much elbow-
ing, returned running to the place whence he had set
out. All this time the Toci priest had been looking on,
and now he pretended to chase those that ran, while they
pelted him back with the down and powdered chalk
they had in their hands; the king himself running «
little way and pelting him like the rest. After this
fashion they all ran away from him and left him alone,
except some priests, who followed him to a place called

curiou:
On he
held a
her to |
princip
they i
had on
the grip
priests ¢
often m
latter st;
incense
it from g
the pries:
her shou

* Kingsbos
i, ib. ii, pp

THE XILONEN FESTIVAL,
Tocititlan, when he took off the skin of

ife?), wag turned toward the road,
or street. And this was the last of the Ceremonies of
the feast of Ochpanizt}j ®

The intimate connection of the

which month begi

» ind one of
twisting her backwards,
} On which living

» Pp. 69-70; Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom,

9 Kin shorough's Mec, Antiq., vol, vii,
i, lib, it” Pp. 148-56, "

860 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

altar her heart was cut out through her breast, and put
into a cup. After that there was more dancing, in
which the women, old and young, took part in a body by
themselves, their arms and legs decorated with red ma-
caw feathers, and their faces painted yellow and dusted
with marcasite. There was also a banquet of small
pies called xocotamalh, during which to the old men and
women license was given to drink pulque; the young,
however, being restrained from the bacchanalian part of
this enjoyment by severe and sometimes capital punish-
ment.”

Lastly, the intimate connection or identity of Centeotl
with the earth-mother, the all-nourisher, seems clearly
symbolized in the feast of the fourth month of the Mexi-
cans, which began on the 27th of April. In it they
made a festival to the god of cereals, under the name of
Centeotl, and to the goddess of provisions, called Chico-
mecoatl. First they fasted four days, putting certain
rushes or water-flags beside the images of the gods, stain-
ing the white part of the bottom of each rush with blood
drawn from their ears or legs; branches too, of the kind
called acxoiatl, and a kind of bed or mattress of hay
were put before the altars. A sort of porridge of maize
called mazamorra was also made and given to the youths.
Then all walked out into the country, and through the
maize-fields, carrying stalks of maize, and other herbs
called mecoatl. With these they strewed the image of
the god of cereals that every one had in his house, and
they put papers on it and food before it of various kinds;
five chiquivites," or baskets, of tortillas, and on the top
of each chiquivitl a cooked frog, a basket of chian” flour,
which they call pinolli;* and a basket of toasted maize
mixed with beans. They cut also a joint from a green
maize-stalk, stuffed the little tube with morsels of every

10 Kingsborough's Mee. Antiq., vol. vii., pp. 60-1; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom.
i., lib. ii, PP. 135-9; Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Messico, tom. ii., p. 75; Tor-
mada, Monarg. Ini, tom. ii., Pp. 269-71,
M Chiquiuitl, cesto 6 canasta. Molina, Vocabulario,
"8 Chian, 6 Chia, cierta semilla de que sacan azeite. Id.
13 Pinolli, la harina de mayz y chia, antes que la deslian. Id.

pitch-b
swift f,
younge1
speakest
first of
tail of |
coward ;
speak h
hast ne’
young lc
springall
retorts li
this wit
will take

Ww A are
and bearing

BLESSING THE SEED-MAIZE, 361

apparently the one just mentioned, but which ig here
called the cu of Chicomecoatl and of Centeotl. The
maidens carried on their shoulders not more than seven
ears of corn apiece, sprinkled with drops of oil of ulli
and wrapped first in Papers and then in a cloth. The
legs and arms of these girls were ornamented with red
feathers, and their faces were smeared with the pitch
called chapopotli and sprinkled with marcasite, As they
went along in this bizarre attire, the people crowded to

speak here; thou art as much a woman ag | am; thou
hast never come out from behind the fire! But the
young lovers of Tenochtitlan were not without insolent
springalls among them, much given to rude gibes, and
retorts like the following: Well said, my lad y, I receive
this with thanks, I wil] do what you command me,
will take care to show myself a man; but as for you,

u Apparently the earth symbolized as q frog (see this Vol. p. 351, note 4.)
and bearing the fruits thereof on her back,

aye)
\F IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

a ie ZS
as He 22
7 =

lle

ral
yu
= 6 (6d

WN Ws Ms.

Photographic 23 WaS' MAIN STREET
sciences nya
Corporation

862 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

I value two cacao-beans more than you and ail your
lineage; put mud on your body,-and scratch yourself,
fold one leg over the other and roll in the dust; see!
here is a rough stone, knock your face against it; and if
ou want anything more take a red-hot coal and burn a
ole in your throat to spit through; for God’s sake, hold
your peace.

This the young fellows said, writes Sahagun, to show
their courage; and so it went, give and take, till the
maize was carried to the cu and blessed. ‘Then the
folk returned to their houses and sanctified maize was
put in the bottom of every granary, and it was said
that it was the heart thereof, and it’ remained there till
taken out for seed. These ceremonies were spécially in
honor of the goddess Chicomecoatl. She supplied pro-
visions, she it was that had made all kinds of maize and
frijoles, and whatsover vegetables could be eaten, and all
sorts of chia; and for this they made her that festival
with offerings of food, and with songs and dances, and
with the blood of quails. All the ornaments of her attire
were bright red and curiously wrought, and in her
hands they put stalks of maize.”*

The Mexicans deified, under the name Cioapipilti,
all women that died in child-bed. There were ora-
tories raised tu their honor in every ward that had two
streets. In such oratories, called cioatewcalli or ciateupan,
there were kept images of these goddesses adorned with
certain papers called amatetevitl, The eighth movable
feast of the Mexican calendar was dedicated to them,
falling in the sign Cequiahuitl, in the first house; in this
feast were slain in their honor all lying in the jails under
pain of death. These goddesses were said to move
through the air at pleasure, and to appear to whom they
would of those that lived upon the earth, and sometimes
to enter into and ss them. They were accustomed
to hurt children with various infirmities, especially paral-

1S Kings h's Mew, Antig., vol. vii., pp. 43-4; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom.
ia lib. He ‘EP ~100; 7 ee Bloria AM :
quenada, mar

del Messico, tom. ii,, p. 67; Tor-
q: Ind,, tom. wt pp. 62-3, 60-1, 134, 162--9, 181, 165-6.

citl, le
Namas

THE MOTHER-GODDESS AND WOMAN IN CHILD-BED. 3638

ysis and other sudden diseases. Their favorite haunt
on earth was the cross-roads, and, on certain days of the
year, people weuld not go out of their houses for fear of
meeting them. They were propitiated in their temples
and at the cross-roads by offerings of bread kneaded into
various shapes,—into figures of butter-flies and thunder-
boits for example,—by offerings of small tamales, or
pies, and of toasted maize. ‘Their images, besides
the papers above mentioned, were decorated by having
the face, arms, and legs painted very white; their ears
were made of gold; their hair was dressed like that of
ladies, in little curls; the shi:t was painted over with
black waves; the petticoats were worked in divers colors;
the sandals were white,

The mother-goddess, under the form of the serpent-
woman, Cioacoatl, or Ciuacoatl, or Cihuacoatl, or, lastly,
Quilaztli, seems to have been held as the patroness of
. women in child-bed generally, and, especially, of those
that died there. When the delivery of a woman was
likely to be tedious and dangerous, the midwife ad-
dressed the patient saying: Be strong, my daughter; we
can do nothing for thee. Here are present thy mother
and thy relations, but thou alone must conduct this busi-
ness to its termination. See to it, my daughter, my well-
beloved, that thou be a strong and valiant and manly
woman; be like her who first bore children, like Cioa-
coatl, like Quilaztli. And if still after a day and a
night of labor the woman could not bring forth, the mid-
wife took her away frorn all other persons and brought
her into a closed room and made many prayers, calling
upon the goddess Cioacoatl, and upon the goddess Yoal-
ticitl,* and upon other goddesses. If, notwithstanding

16 Yoalticit], another name of the mother-goddess, of the mother of the
pods, of the mother of us all, of our grand-mother or ancestress; more par-
cularly that form of the mother-goddess described, after Sahagun (this vol.
p. 353), as being the patroness of medivine and of doctors and of the sweat-
aths, Sahagun speaka in another passage of Yoalticitl (Kingsdborough’s
Mex, Antiq,, vol. v., p. 453): La madre de los Dioses, que és ln Diosn de las
medicinas y medicos, y 68 madre de todos nosotros, la cual se llama Yoalti-
citl, la qual tiene poder y autoridad sobre los Temascales (sweat-baths) que
Noman Xuchicalli, en el qual lugar esta Diosa vé las cosas secretas, y adereza

864 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

all, however, the woman died, they apve: Le the title,
mociaquezqui, that is ‘ valiant woman,’ and they washed
all her body, and washed with soap her head and her
hair. Her husband lifted her on his shoulders, and,
with her long hair flowing loose behind him, carried her
to the place of burial. All the old midwives accom-
panied the body, marching with shields and swords, and
shouting as when soldiers close in the attack. They
had need of their weapons, for the body that they
escorted was a holy relic which many were eager. to win;
and a party of youths fought with these Amazons to take
their treasure from them: this fight was no play but a
very bone-breaking earnest. The burial procession set
out at the setting of the sun and the corpse was interred
in the court-yard of the cu of the goddesses, or celestial
women called Cioapipilti., Four nights the husband
and his friends guarded the grave and four nights the
youths, or rawest and most inexperienced soldiers,
prowled like wolves about the little band. If, either
from the fighting midwives or from the night-watchers,
they succeeded in securing the body, they instantly cut
off the middle finger of the left hand and the hair of
the head; either of these things being put in one’s shield,
made one fierce, brave, invincible in war, and blinded
the eyes of one’s enemies. There prowled also round
the sacred tomb certain wizards, called temamacpalitoti-
que, seeking to hack off and steel the whole left arm of
the dead wife; for tuey held it to be of mighty potency
in their enchantments, and a thing that when they went
to a house to work their malice thereon, would wholly
take away the courage of the inmates, and dismay them
so that they could neither move hand nor foot, though
they saw all that passed.

he death of this woman in child-bed was mourned
by the midwivis, but her parents and relations were
joyful thereat; tor they said that she did not go to hades,
or the under-ground world, but to the western part of

las cosan desconcertadas en los cuerpos de los hombres, y fortifica las cosas
tivrnas y blandas.

ing li

celest

scatte

earth,
the W
to spi
furnit
This 1
witha’
appea:
coats ¢
Ver

THE HOUSE OF THE SUN. 865

the House of the Sun. To the eastern part of the House of
the Sun, as the ancients said, were taken up all the
soldiers that died in war. When the sun rose in the
morning these brave men decorated themselves in their
panoply of war, and accompanied him towards the mid-
heaven, shouting and fighting, apparently in a sham or
review battle, until they reached the point of noon-
day, which was called nepantlatonatiuh. At this point
the heroines, whose home was in the west of heaven, the
mocioaquezque, the valiant women, dead in child-bed, who
ranked as equal with the heroes fallen in war, 1aet these
heroes and relieved them of their duty as guards of
honor of the sun. From noon till night, down the
western slope of light, while the forenoon escort of war-
riors were scattered through all the fields and gardens of
heaven, sucking flowers till another day should call
them anew to their duty, the women, in panoply of war,
just as the men had been, and fighting like them with
clashing shields and shouts of joy, bore the sun
to his setting; carrying him on a litter of quetzales, or
rich feathers, called the quetzal-apanecaiutl, At this
setting-place of the sun the women were, in their turn,
relieved by those of the under world, who here came out
to receive him. For it was reported of old by the
ancients that when night began in the upper world the
sun began to shine through hades, and that thereupon
the dead rose up from their sleep and bore his shin-
ing litter through their domain. At this hour too the
celestial women, released from their duty in heaven,
scattered and poured down through the air upon the
earth, where, with a touch of the dear nature that makes
the world kin, they are described as looking for spindles
to spin with, and shuttles to weave with, and all the old
furniture and implements of their house-wifely pride.
This thing, says Sahagun, ‘“‘ the devil wrought to deceive
withal, for very often, in the form of those women, he
appeared to their bereaved husbands, giving them petti-
coats and shirts,”

Very beautiful was the form of address before burial

866 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

used by the midwife to the dead woman who had taken
rank among the mocioaquezque or mocioaquetza:: O woman,
strong and warlike, child well-beloved, valiant one,
beautiful and tender dove, strong hast thou been and
toil-enduring as a hero; thou hast conquered, thou hast
done as did thy mother the lady Cioacoatl, or Quilaztli.
Very valiantly hast thou fought, stoutly hast thou
handled the shield and the spear that the great. mother
put in thine hand. Up with thee! break from sleep!
behold it is already day; already the red of morning
shoots through the clouds; already the swallows and all
birds are abroad. Rise, my daughter, attire thyself, go
to that good land where is the house of thy father and
mother the Sun; thither.let thy sisters, the celestial
women, carry thee, they that are always joyful and
merry and filled with delight, because of the Sun with
whom they take pleasure. My tender daughter and
lady, not without sore travail hast thou gotten the glory
of this victory; a great pain and a hard penance hast
thou undergone. Well and fortunately hast thou pur-
chased this death. Is this, peradventure, a fruitless
death, and without great merit and honor? Nay, verily,
but one of much honor and profit. Who receives other
sich: great mercy, other such happy victory as thou? for
thou hast gained with thy death eternal life, a life full
of joy and delight, with the goddesses called Cioapipilti,
the celestial goddesses. Go now, my lady, my well-
beloved; little by little advance toward them; be one of
them, that they may receive thee and be always with
thee, that thou mayest rejoice and be glad in our father
and mother the Sun, and accompany him whithersoever
he wish to take pleasure. O my lady, my well-beloved
daughter, thou hast left us behind, us old people, un-
worthy of such glory; thou hast torn thyself away from
thy father and mother, and departed. Not indeed of
thine own will, but thou wast called; thou didst follow
a voice that called. We must remain orphans and for-
lorn, old and luckless and poor; misery will glorify it-
self in us, O my lady, thou hast left us here that we

CHALCHIHUITLICUE, 867 ©

mey go from door to door and through the streets in
poverty and sorrow; we pray thee to remember us
where thou art, and to provide for the poverty that
we here endure. The sun wearies us with his great
heat, the air with its coldness, ana the frost with
its torment. All these things afflict and grieve our
miserable earthen bodies; hunger is lord over us, and
we can do nothing against it. My well-beloved, I pray
thee to visit us since thou art a valorous woman and a
lady, since thou art settled forever in the place of delight
and blessedness, there to live and be forever with| our
Lord. Thou seest him with thine eyes, thou speakest to
him with thy tongue, pray to him for us, entreat him
that he favor us, and therewith we shall be at rest.”

Chalchihuitlicue or Chalchiuhcyeje is described by
Clavigero as the goddess of water and the mate of Tla-
loc. She had other names relating to water in its differ-
ent states, as Apozonallotl and Acuecuejotl, which mean
the swelling and fluctuation of water; Atlacamani, or
the storms excited thereon; Ahuic and Aiauh, or its
motion, now to one side, now to the other; and Xixiqui-
pilihui, the alternate rising and falling of the waves.
The Tlascaltecs called her Matlaicneje, that is ‘clothed
in a green robe; and they gave the same name to the
highest mountain of Tlascala, on whose summit are found
those stormy clouds which generally burst over the city
of Puebla. To that summit the Tlascaltecs ascended
to perform their sacrifices, and offer up their prayers.
This is the very same goddess of water to whom Tor-
quemada gives the name of Hochiquetzal, and Boturini
that of Macuilxochiquetzalli.”

Of the accuracy of the assertions of this last sen-
tence [ am by no means certain; Boturini and Tor-
quemada both describe their goddess of water with-
out giving any support thereto. ae ht says i

17 King ve Mea. Antig., vol. vi, » pp. 459-
Sahapun, Hit, » lib. i, pp. 8-9, aR. i ii, “On 78.9; tom. fi., hb’

wPBiavigero, Btorta Ant, del Messioo, tom. tl, p. 16,

868 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

she was metaphorically called by the Mexicans the
goddess of the Petticoat of Precious Stones, —chal-
chihuites, as it would appear from other authorities,
being meant,—and that she was represented with
large pools at her feet, and symbolized by certain
reeds that grow in moist places. She was par-
ticularly honored by fishermen and others whose trade
connected them with water, and great ladies were ac-
customed to dedicate to her their nuptials—probably,
as will be seen immediately, because this goddess had
much to do with certain lustral ceremonies performed
on new-born children.”

Many names, writes Torquemada, were given to this
goddess, but that of Chalchihuitlicue vas the most com-
mon and usual; it meant to say, ‘ petticoat of water, of
a shade between green and blue,’ that is, of the color of
the stones called chalchihuites.” . She was the com-
panion, not the wife of Tlaloc, for indeed as our author
affirms, the Mexicans did not think so grossly of their
gods and goddesses as to marry them.”

According to Sahagun, Chalchihuitlicue was the sister
of the Tlalocs. She was honored because she had power
over the waters of the sea and of the rivers to drown

19 Boturini, Idea, pe: 25-6,

#0 ‘ The stones called chalchiuites by the Mexicans (and written variously
chalchibetes, chalchihuis, and calchihuis, by the chroniclers) were esteemed of
high value by all the Central American and Mexican nations. They were
generally of Whigs quartz, jade, or the stone known as madre de Esmeralda
.... The goddess of water, amongst the Mexicans, bore the name of Chalchiuil-
cuye, the woman of the Chalchiuites, and the name of Chalchiuihapan was
often applied to the city of Tlaxcalla, from a beautiful fountain of water
found near it, ‘the color of which,’ according to Torquemada, ‘was
between blue and green.’’ Squier in Palacio, Carta, p. 110, note 15, In
the same work p. 63, we find mention made by Palacio of an idol ap-
parently representing Chalchihuitlicue: ‘Very near here, is a little village
called Coatan, in the neighborhood of which is a lake ['' This lake is distant
two leagues to the southward of the present considerable town of Guatepeque,
from which it takes its name, Laguna de Guatepue ''—Guatemala], situated
on the flank of the volcano, Its water is bad; it is deep, and full of cay-
mans. In its middle there are two small islands, The Indians regard the
lake as an oracle of much boreal »» I Jearned that certain negroes and
mulattos of an adjacent estate had been there [on the islands], and had
found a great idol of stone, in the form of a woman, and some objects which
wee offered in sacriffce. Near by were found some stones called cha-
chibites.’

8! Torqucmada, Monarg. Ind , tom. ii., p. 47.

and white sandals, In her left hand she held a shield,
and a leaf of the broad round white water-li] Y, Called atig.
cuezona.™ In her right hand she held

Church. ~ This goddess, together with Chicomecoatl,
goddess of Provisions, and Vixtocivat], Goddess of salt

that they could live and multiply,

alchihuitlicue was especially connected with certain
ceremonies of lustration of children, resembling in many

* Atlacueconan, ninfa ve] Onenufar, flor de erna de agua, Molina, Vocab.
wario, The Abbé i ay

‘o find, that this leaf was ornamented with golden flags. Hist, des Nat. Civ,
tom, i i i

mM, i, p, » He adds in ® note to this Passage, what ig very true, that
‘Suivan Ixtlilxochitl, et apres juj Veytia, la déesse des eanx aurait été adorée
Sous la forme d’une Brenouille, faite d’une seule émeraude, et qui, suivant
Ixtlilxochiti, existait encore au temps de la conquéte de Mexico, 4@ seule

ese adorée sous la forme unique d’une Stenouille était Ja terre.’ (See

is vol, P. 351, note 4. Gomara, Hist, Cong Men., fol, 326, Says that the
figure of 9 frog was held to be th ; e Ol0s... .ege

ua el dela ramu, A Ia cual tenian por diosa del Pescado.’ Motolinia ex.
tends this lost statement 48 follows. The Mexicans had idols he Says, in
Col. de

» ‘de los Pescadog Brandes y de los la.

" y estos decian

un pueblo de la Aguna de México

evaron unos {dolog de estos peces, que 08 de piedra,

8} Y despucg volviendo por alli pidiéron} comer algunos pecer,

y respondicnet que habian Nevado el dios del Pescado y que no Podian to.
mar peceg,'

8% Kingsborough's Mex, re vol, vii., Pp. 5-6, 36; Sahagun, Hist, Gen.,
tom. i., lib, i, pp, 9-10, lib, j * P. 81; Amer, Bthnol, Soe., Wansact, yo), i,
Pp. 842, 350,

Von, IIT, 94

870 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

points baptism among Christians. It would seem that
two of these lustrations were practiced upon every in-
fant, and the first took place immediately upon its birth.
When the midwife had cut the umbilical cord of the
child, then she washed it, and while washing it said,
varying her address according to its sex: My son, ap-
proach now thy mother, Chalchihuitlicue, the goddess of
water; may she see good to receive thee, to wash thee,
and to put away from thee the filthiness that thou takest
from thy father and mother; may she see good to purify
thine heart, to make it good and clean, and to instill
into thee good habits and manners.

Then the midwife turned to the water itself and spoke:
Most compassionate lady, Chalchihuitlicue, here has come
into the world this thy servant, sent hither by our
father and mother, whose names are Ometecutli and
Omecioatl,* who live on the ninth heaven, which is the
place of the habitation of the gods. We know not what
are the gifts that this infant brings with it; we know
not what was given to it before the beginning of the
world; we know not what it is, nor what mischief and
vice it brings with it taken from its father and mother.
It is now in thine hands, wash and cleanse it as thou know-
est to be necessary; in thine hands we leave it. Purge
it from the filthiness it inherits from its father and its
mother, all spot and defilement let the water carry away
and undo. See good, O our lady, to cleanse and purify
its heart and life that it may lead a quiet and peaceable
life in this world; for indeed we leave this creature in
thine hands, who art mother and lady of the gods, and
alone worthy of the gift of cleansing that thou has held
from before the beginning of the world; see good to do
as we have entreated thee to this child now in thy pre-
sence,

Then the midwife spake again; I pray thee to receive
this child here brought before thee. This said, the mid-
wife took water and blew her breath upon it, and gave
to taste of it to the babe, and touched the babe with it

% Bee this vol., p. 58, note 15,

gers and
not prop
800d sig
boy » Vega
arrows;
toward e
were also

of paste ¢

SS ee re aie

ae eo ee”

rom

TWO LUSTRATIONS OR BAPTISMS. 871

on the breast and on the top of the head. Then she
said: My well-beloved son, or daughter, approach here
thy mother and father, Chalchihuitiicue and Chalchihui-
tlatonac; let now this goddess take thee, for she has to
bear thee on her shoulders and in her arms through this
world, Then the midwife dipped the child into water
and said: Enter, my son, into the water that is called
mamatiac and tuspalac; let it wash thee; let him cleanse
thee that is in every place, let him see good to put away
from thee all the evil that thou hast carried with thee
from before the beginning of the world, the evil that
thy father and thy mother have joined to thee. Hav-
ing so washed the creature, the midwife then wrapped
it up, addressing it the while as follows: O precious
stone, O rich feather, O emerald, O sapphire, thou wert
shaped where abide the great god and the great goddess
that are above the heavens; created and formed thou
wert by thy mother and father, Ometecutli. and Omeci-
oatl, the celestial woman and the celestial man. Thou
hast come into this world, a place of many toils and
troubles, of intemperate heat and intemperate cold and
wind, a place of hunger and thirst, of weariness and of
tears; of a verity we cannot say that this world is other
than a place of weeping, of sadness, of vexation. Be-
hold thy lot, weariness and weeping and tears. Thou
hast come, my well-beloved, repose then and take here
thy rest; let our Lord that is in every place provide for
and support thee. And in saying all these things the
midwife spake softly, as one that prays.

The second lustration or baptism, usually took place
on the fifth day after birth, but in every case the astrolo-
gers and diviners were consulted, and if the signs were
not propitious, the baptism was postponed till a day of
good sign came. The ceremony, when the child was a
boy, began by bringing to it a little shield, bow, and
arrows; of which arrows there were four, one pointing
toward each of the four points of the world, There
were also brought a little shield, bow, and arrows, made
of paste or dough of wild amaranth seeds, and @ pottage

872 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

of beans and toasted maize, and a little breech-clout and
blanket or mantle. The poor in such cases had no more
than the little shield, bow, and arrows, together with some
tamales and toasted maize. When the child was a girl,
there were brought to it, instead of mimic weapons, cer-
tain woman’s implements and tools for spinning and
weaving, the spindle and distaff, a little shirt and petti-
coats. These things being prepared, suiting the sex of
the infant, its parents and relatives assembled before
sunrise. When the sun rose the midwife asked for a
new vessel full of water; and she took the child in her
hands. Then the by-standers carried all the implements
and utensils already mentioned into the court-yard of
the house, where the midwife set the face of the child
toward the west, and spake to the child saying: O
grandson of mine, O eagle, O tiger, O valiant man,
thou hast come into the world, sent by thy father and
mother, the great Lord and the great lady; thou wast
created and begotten in thy house, which is the place of
the supreme gods that are above the nine heavens. Thou
art a gift from our son Quetzalcoatl, who is in every
place; join thyself now to thy mother, the goddess of
water, Chalchihuitlicue.
Then the midwife gave the child to taste of the water,
putting her moistened fingers in its mouth, and said:
Take this; by this thou hast to live on the earth, to
grow and to flourish; through this we get all things that
support existence on the earth; receive it. Then with
her moistened fingers she touched the breast of the child,
and said: Behold the pure water that washes and
cleanses thine heart, that removes a’. filthiness; receive
it; may the goddess see good to purify and cleanse thine
heart. Then the midwife poured water upon the head
of the child saying: O my grandson, my son, take this
-water of the Lord of the world, which is thy life, in-
vigorating and refreshing, washing and cleansing. [|
pray that this celestial water, blue and light blue, may
enter into thy body and there live; I pray that it may
destroy in thee and put away from thee all the things

sent t
world.
tion, f
thee tl
and se
time t
mother
thee I «
spire W
give an

5 See n
tener, y se
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de lag Mugere

PRAYER TO THE EARTH-MOTHER.,

evil and adverse
ning of the world
kind put,

Having 0

are all man
chihuitlicue

?

rm; now

is it shaped

of water,

5 Se
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373

ven thee before the begin-
e hand, O goddess of water,
use thou art our
washed the
fe said:

that were gi
Into thin

mother Chal-
body of the child

the midwi

, the midwife
toward heaven and

» and hast with
ife stooped again
sed it the second

lady who art

itlalatonac, * to
I pray thee to in.
Soever it may be, to
nto this creature. Then the mid-

‘on the earth, and raj

n,

808 Mexicanos fingieron

» q amado! Ometecuhtli, que

u

strella q
were decir, Fa
A }
os las nombra-
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que residian en ynq
Oo era mas alto
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arece, ee
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y que
6 aquel su ag

mui claro d

Mugeres,

" Torquemada, Mona

rg. Ind., tom: li., p. 37

874 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

wife stooped again and set the child on the ground, and
raised it the third time toward heaven, and said: O our
Lord, god and goddess celestial, that are in the heavens,
behold this creature; see good to pour into it thy virtue
and thy breath, so that it may live upon the earth.
Then a fourth and last time the midwife set the babe
upon the ground, a fourth time she lifted it toward
heaven, and she spake to the sun and said: O our Lord,
Sun, Totonametl, Tlaltecutli, that art our mother and our
father, behold this creature, which is like a bird of pre-
cious plumage, like 2 zaquan or a quechutl;® thine, O our
Lord the Sun, he is; thou who art valiant in war and
painted like a tiger in black and gray, he is thy creature
and of thine estate and patrimony. For this he was
born, to serve thee and to give thee food and drink; he
is of the family of warriors and soldiers that fight on

the field of battle.
Then the midwife took the shield, and the bow and

% Gaquantototl, paxaro de pluma amarillo y rica. Molina, Vocabulario,
According,to Bustamante however, this bird is not one in any way remark-
able for plumage, but is identical with the tzacua described by Clavigero, and
is here used as an example of a vigilant and active soldier. Bustamante (in
a note to Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom, ii., lib. vi., pp. 194-5) writes: Tzacua,
of this bird repeated mention has been made in this history, for the Indians
used it for a means of comparison or similein their speeches. It is an early-
rising bird (madrugador), and has nothing notable in its plumage or in its
voice, but only in its habits, This bird is one of the last to go to rest at
night and one of the first to announce the comingsun. An hour before day-
break a bird of this species, nove passed the night with many of his fel-
lows on any branch, begins to call them, with a shrill clear note that he
keeps repeating in a glad tone till some of them reply. The tzacua is about
the size of a sparrow, and very similar in color to the bunting (calandria),
but more marvellous in its habits. It is a social bird, each tree is a town of
many nests. One tzacua plays the part of chief and guards the rest; his post
is in the top of the tree, whence, from time to time, he flies from nest to nest
uttering his notes; and while he is visiting a nest all within ore silent. If
he sees any bird of another species approaching the tree he sallies out uj on
the invader and with beak and wings ee Ny a retreat. But if he sees a
man or any large object advancing, he flies screaming to a neighboring
tree, and, meeting other birds of his tribe flying homeward, he obliges them
to retire by changing the tone of his note. When the danger is over he re-
turns to his tree and begins his rounds as before, from nest to nest. Tzacuas
abound in Michoacan, and to their observations regarding them the Indians
are doubtless indebted for many hints and comparisons applied to soldiers
diligent in duty. The quechutl, or tlauhkquechol, is a large aquatic bird with
plumage of a beautiful scarlet color, or a reddish white, except that of the
neck, which is black. Its home is on the sea-shore and by the river banks,

where it feeds on live fish, never touching dead flesh. See Clavigero, Storia
Ant, del Messico, tom, i., pp. 87, 91-3,

into th

is to m
eat and
soldiers
are noy
And th
hither, «
midwife
departed

DEDICATION OF THE CHILD TO WAR. 875
the dart that were there prepared, and spake to the Sun
after this sort: Behold here the instruments of war
which thou art served with, which thou delightest in;
impart to this babe the gift that thou art wont to give
to thy soldiers, enabling them to go to thine house of
delights, where, having fallen in battle, they rest and are
joyful and are now with thee praising thee. Will this
poor little nobody ever be one of them? Have pity upon
him, O clement Lord of ours.

During all the time of these ceremonies a great torch
of candlewood was burning; and when these ceremonies
were accomplished, a name was given to the child, that
of one of his ancestors, so that he might inherit the for-
tune or lot of him whose name was sotaken. This naine
was applied to the child by the midwife, or priestess,
who performed the baptism. Suppose the name given
was Yautl. Then the midwife began to shout and to
talk like a man to the child: O Yautl, O valiant man,
take this shield and this dart; these are for thy amuse-
ment, they are the delight of the sun. Then she tied
the little mantle on its shoulders and girt the breech-
clout about it. Now all the boys of the ward were as-
sembled, and at this stage of the ceremony they rushed
into the house where the baptism had taken place, and
representing soldiers and forrayers, they took food that
was there prepared for them, which was called ‘the
navel-string,’ or ‘navel,’ of the child, and set out with
it into the streets, shouting and eating, They cried O
Yautl, Yautl, get thee to the field of battle, put thyself
into the thickest of the fight; O Yautl, Yautl, thine office
is to make glad the sun and the earth, to give them to
eat and to drink; upon thee has fallen the lot of the
soldiers that are eagles and tigers, that die in war, that
are now making merry and singing before the sun.
And they cried again: O soldiers, O men of war, come
hither, come to eat of the navel of Yautl. Then the
midwife, or priestess, took the child into the house, and
departed, the great torch of candlewood being carried

876 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

burning before her, and this was the last of the cere-
mony.

a Kings! h's Mex. Antiq., vol. v., PP. 479-483, vol. vii., pp. 151-2;
Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. ii., lib. vi., pp. 215-221. According to some au-
thors, and I think Boturini for one, this baptism was supplemented by pass-
ing the child through fire. There was such a ceremony; however, it was
not connected with that of baptism, but it took place on the last night of
every fourth year, be:ure the five unlucky days. On the last night of every
fourth year, parents chose god-parents for their children born during the
three preceding years, and these god-fathers and god-mothers passed the
children over, or near to, or about the flame of a prepared fire (rodearlos por
las llamas del fuego que tenian epaneee? para esto, que en el latin se dice
lustrare). ‘They also bored the children’s ears, which caused no small up-
roar (Habia gran voceria de muchachos y muchachas por el ahugeramiento
de las orejas) as may well be imagined. They clasped the children by the
temples and lifted them up ‘to make them grow;’ wherefore they called the
feast izcalli, ‘growing.’ They finished by giving the little things pulque
in tiny cups, and for this the feast was called the ‘drunkenness of children,’
Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., pp. 189-192, In the Spiegazione delle
Tavole del Codice Mewicano (Vaticano), tav. xxxi., in Kingsborough’ s Mex,
Antig., vol. v., p. 181, there is given a description of the water baptism dif-
fering somewhat from that given in the text. It runs as follows: ‘ They
took some ficitle; and having o large vessel of water near them, they made
the leaves of the ficitle into a bunch, and dipped it into the water, with
which they sprinkled the child; and after fumigating it with incense, they

ve ita name, taken from the sign on which it was born; and they put into
its hand a shield and arrow, if it was a boy, which is what the figure of
Xiuatlatl denotes, who here represents the god of war; they also uttered
over the child certain prayers in the manner of deprecations, that he
might become a brave, intrepid, and courageous man, The offering which
his parents carried to the temple the elder priests took and divided with the
other children who were in the ernples who ran with it through the whole
city.’ Mendieta, Hist. Heles., p. 107, again describes this rite, in substance
as follows: ‘They had a sort of baptism: thus when the child was a fow
days old, an old woman was called in, who took the child out into the court
of the house where it was born, and washed it a certain number of times
with the wine of the country, and as many times again with water; then
she put a name on it, and performed certain ceremonies with the umbilical
cord, These names were taken from the idols, or from the feasts that
fell about that time, or from a beast or bird,’ See further Lsplicacion
de la Coleccion de Mendoza, pt iii., in Kingsborough’s Mew, Antig., vol.
v., pp. 90-1; Torquemada, Monurg. Ind., tom, ii., pp. 445, 449-458; Cla-
vigero, Storia Ant, del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 85-9; Humboldt, Vues des
Cordilléres, tom, ii, pp. 311, 318; Gama, Dos Piedras, pt ii., pp.
89-41; Prescott’s Mex., vol. iii, p. 385; Brinton’s Myths, pp. 122, 180;
Miller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, p. 652; Biart, La Terre Temperec, p,
274, Mr Tylor, speaking of Mexico, i his <Anahuac, p, 279, says:
‘Children were sprinkled with water when their names were given
to them, ‘This is certainly true, though the statement that they
believed that the process purified them from original sin is probably
a monkish fiction.’ Farther reading, however, has shown Mr Tylor tho
injustice of this judgment, and in his masterly latest and greatest work (seo
Primitive Culture, vol, ii,, pp. 429-86), he writes as follows: ‘The last group
of rites whose course through religious history is to be outlined here, takes
in the varied dramatic acts of ceremorfal purification or Lustration, With
all the obscurity and intricaoy due to age-long modification, the primitive
thought which underlies these ceremonies is still open to view, It is the tran-
sition from practical to symbolic cleansing, from removal of bodily impurity
to deliverance from invisible, spiritual, and at last moral evil, (See this vol. p.

days late
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Water, ar
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egun, wil
to sprinkl

THE AZTEC VENUS. 377

The goddess (or god, as some have it) connected by
the Mexicans with carnal love was variously called Tla-
zoltecotl, Ixcuina, Tlaclquani, with other names, and,
especially it would appear in Tlascala, Xochiquetzal.
She had no very prominent or honorable place in the
minds of the people and was much more closely allied to
the Roman Cloacina than to the Greek Aphrodite.
Camargo, the Tlascaltec, gives much the most agreeable
and pleasing account of her. Her home was in the
ninth heaven, in a pleasant garden, watered by innu-
merable fountains, where she passed her time spinning
and weaving rich stuffs, in the midst of delights, minis-
tered to by the inferior deities. Noman was able to
approach her, but she had in her service a crowd of
dwarfs, buffoons, and hunchbacks, who diverted her with
their songs and dances, and acted as messengers to such
gods as she tooka fancy to. So beautiful was she painted
that no woman in the world could equal her; and the
place of her habitation was called Iamotamohuanichan,

Xochitlycacan, Chitamihuany, Cicuhnauhuepaniuhcan,
and Tuhecayan, that is to say ‘the place of Tamohuan,
the place of the tree of flowers Xochitlihcacan, where the
air is purest, beyond the nine heavens.’ It was further
said, that whoever had been touched by one of the

119)....In old Mexico, the first act of ceremonial lustration took place at
birth. The nurse washed the infant in the name of the water-goddess, to re-
move the impurity of its birth, to cleanse its heart and give it a good and per-
fect life; then blowing on water in her right hand she washed it again, warning
it of forthcoming trials and miseries and labors, and praying the invisible
Deity to descend upon the water, to cleanse the child from sin and foulness,
and to deliver it from misfortune. The second act took place some four
days later, unless the astrologers postponed it, Ata festive gathering, amid
fires kept alight from the first ceremony, the nurse undressed the child sent
by the gods into this sad and doleful world, bade it to receive the life-giving
water, and washed it, driving out evil from each limb and offering to the
deities appointed prayers for virtue and blessing, It was then that the toy
instruments of war or craft or household labor were placed in the boy’s or
girl’s hand (a custom singularly corresponding with one usual in China),
and the other children, instructed by their parents, gave the new-comer its
child-name, here again to be replaced by ancther at manhood or womanhood,
There is nothing unlikely in the statement that the child was also passed
four times through the fire, but the authority this is given on is not sufficient,
The reiigious character of ablution is well shown in Mexico by its form.
ing part of the daily service of the priests. Aztec life ended as it had
begun, with this ceremonial lustration; it was one of the funeral ceremonies
to sprinkle the head of the corpse with the lustral water of this life,’

878 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

flowers that grow in the beautiful garden of Xochiquet-
zal should love to the end, should love faithfully.

Boturini gives a legend in which this goddess figures
in a very characteristic way. There was a man called
Yappan, who, to win the regard of the gods made him-
self a hermit, leaving his wife and his relations, and re-
tiring to a desert place, there to lead a chaste and soli-
tary life. In that desert was a great stone or rock,
called Tehuehuetl, dedicated to penitential acts, which
rock Yappan ascended and took up his abode upon like
a western Simeon Stylites. The gods observed all this
with attention, but doubtful of the firmness of purpose
of the new recluse, they set a spy upon him in the per-
son of an enemy of his, named Ydotl, the word ydotl in-
deed signifying ‘enemy.’ Yet not even the sharpened
eye of hate and envy could find any spot in the austere
continent life of the anchorite, and the many women sent
by the gods to tempt him to pleasure were repulsed and
baffled. In heaven itself the chaste victories of the
lonely saint were applauded, and it began to be thought
that he was worthy to be transformed into some higher
form of life. Then Tlazolteotl, feeling herself slighted
and held for nought, rose up in her evil beauty, wrath-
ful, contemptuous, and said: Think not, ye high and im-
mortal gods, that this hero of yours has the force to pre-
serve his resolution before me, or that he is worthy of
any very sublime transformation; I descend to earth,
behold now how strong is the vow of your devotee, how
unfeigned his continence!

That day the flowers of the gardens of Xochiquetzal
were untended by their mistress, her singing dwarfs
were silent, her messengers undisturbed by her behests,
and away in the desert, by the lonely rock, the
crouching spy Ydotl saw a wondrous sight: one shaped

%8 Camargo, in Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, 1848, tom. xcix., pp. 132-
3, ‘On célébrait chaque année une féte solennelle en l'honneur de cette
déesse Xochiquetzal, et une foule de peuple se réunissait dans son temple.
On disait qu'elle était la femme de ‘i..ioo le dieu des enux, et que Texcat-
lipuca la lui avait enlevée et l'avait transportée nu _neuvidme ciel, Met-

le neycati était la déesse des magiciennes, Tlaloc 1'épousa quand Xochi-
quetzal lui eut été enlevée,’

TLAZOLTEOTL SEDUCES YAPPAN. 879

like a woman, but fairer than eye can conceive, ad-
vancing toward the lean penance-withered man on
the sacred height. Ha! thrills not the hermit’s mor-
tified flesh with something more than surprise, while
the sweet voice speaks: My brother Yappan, I the god-
dess Tlazolteotl, amazed at thy constancy, and commiser-
ating thy hardships, come to comfort thee; what way shall
I take, or what path, that I may get up to speak with
thee? The simple one did not see the ruse, he came
down from his place and helped the goddess up. Alas,
in such a crisis, what need is there to speak further ?—no
other victory of Ydppan was destined to be famous in
heaven, but in a cloud of shame his chaste light went
down for ever. And thou, O shameless one, have thy
fierce red lips had their fill of kisses, is thy Paphian
soul satisfied withal, as now, flushed with victory,
thou passest back to the tinkling fountains, and to the
great tree of flowers, and to the far-reaching gardens
where thy slaves await thee in the ninth heaven? Do
thine eyes lower themselves at all in any heed of
the miserable disenchanted victim left crouching,
humbled on his desecrated rock, his nights and days of
fasting and weariness gone for nought, his dreams, his
hopes dissipated, scattered like dust at the trailing of thy
robes? And for thee, poor Yidppan, the troubles of this
life are soon to end; Yiotl, the enemy, has not seen all
these things for nothing; he, at least, has not borne
hunger and thirst and weariness, has not watched and
waited in vain, O it avails nothing to lift the pleading
hands, they are warm but not with clasping in prayer,
and weary but not with waving the censer; the flint-
edged mace beats down thy feeble guard, the neck that
Tlazolteotl clasped is smitten thiough, the lips she kissed
rollin the ©, beside a headless trunk.

The gods transformed the dead man into a scorpion,
with the forearms fixed lifted up as when he deprecated
the blow of his murderer; and he crawled under the
stone upon which he had abode, His wife, whose name
was Tlahuitzin, that is to say ‘the inflamed,’ still lived.

880 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

The implacable Ydotl sought her out, led her to the spot
stained with her husband’s blood, detailed pitilessly the
circumstances of the sin and death of the hermit, and
then smote off her head. The gods transformed the poor
woman into that species of scorpion called the alacran
encendido, and she crawled under the stone and found
her husband. And so it comes that tradition says that
all reddish colored scorpions are descended from Tlahui-
tain, and all dusky or ash-colored scorpions from Ydp-
pan, while both keep hidden under the stones and flee
the light for shame of their disgrace and punishment.
Last of all the wrath of the gods fell on Ydotl for his
cruelty and presumption in exceeding their commands;
he was transformed into a sort of locust that the Mexicans
call ahuacachapullin.®

Sahagun gives a very full description of this goddess
and her connection with certain rites of confession, much
resembling those already described in speaking of Tez-
catlipoca.” The goddess had according to our author,
three names. The first was Tlazolteotl, that is to say
‘the goddess of carnality.’ The second name was
Yxcuina, which signifies four sisters, called respec-
tively, and in order of age, Tiacapan, Teicu, Tlaco,
Xucotsi. The third and last name of this deity was
Tlaclquani, which means ‘eater of filthy things,’ referring
it is said to her function of hearing and pardoning
the confessions of men and women guilty of unclean
and carnal crimes, For this goddess, or these god-
desses, had power not only to inspire and provoke to
the commission of such sins, and to aid in their accom-
plishment, but also to pardon them, if they were con-
fessed to certain priests who were also diviners and tel-
lers of fortunes and wizards generally. In this confession,
however, Tlazolteotl seems not to have been directly ad-

® Boturini, Idéa, pp. 15, 63-6; ‘Pero, no menos indignados los Dioses
del pecado de Yippan, que de la inobediencia, y atrevimiento de Ydotl, le
convirtieron en Langosta, que Haman los Indios Ahuacachapillin, mandando
se Ilamasse en adelante Tzontecomama, que moines dicir, Carga Cabeza, y en
efecto este animal parece que lleva cargo cons i propeacan de los Malsines,

que siempre eal, las honros, que han quita sus Proximos.’
% See this vol. pp. 220-5,

CONFESSION. 881

dressed, but only the supreme deity under several of his
names. Thusthe person whom, by a stretch of courtesy,
we may call the penitent, having sought out a confessor
from the class above mentioned, addressed that function-
ary in these words: Sir, I wish to approach the all-
powerful god, protector of all, Yoalliehecatl, or Tezcat-
lipoca; I wish to confess my sins in secret. To this the
wizard, or priest, replied: Welcome, my son; the thing
thou wouldst do is for thy good and profit. This said
he searched the divining book, tonalamatl, to see what
day would be most opportune for hearing the confession.
That day come, the penitent brought a new mat, and
white incense called copali, and wood for the fire in
which the incense was to be burned. Sometimes when
he was a very noble personage, the priest went to his
house to confess him, but as a general rule the ceremony
took place at the residence of the priest. On entering
this house the penitent swept very clean a portion of the
floor and spread the new mat there for the confessor to
seat himself upon, and kindled the wood. The priest
then threw the copal upon the fire and said: O Lord,
thou that art the father and the mother of the gods and
the most ancient god,” know that here is come thy
vassal and servant, weeping and with great sadness; he
is aware that he has wandered from the way, that he
has stumbled, that he has slidden, that he is spotted
with certain filthy sins and grave crimes worthy of death.
Our Lord, very pitiful, since thou art the protector and
defender of all, accept the penitence, give ear to the an-
guish of this thy servant and vassal.

At this point the confessor turned to the sinner and
said: My son, thou art come into the presence of God,
favorer and protector of all; thou art come to lay bare
thy inner rottenness and unsavoriness; thou art come to
publish the secrets of thine heart; see that thou fall into
no pit by lying unto our Lord; strip thyself, put away
all shame before him who is called Yoalliehecatl and
Tezeatlipoca. It is certain that thou art now in his pres-

31 See this vol., pp. 212, 226,

882 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

ence, although thou art not worthy to see him, neither
will he speak with thee, for he is invisible and impalpable.
See then to it how thou comest, and with what heart;
fear nothing to publish thy secrets in his presence, give
account of thy life, relate thine evil deeds as thou didst
perform them; tell all with sadness to our Lord God,
who is the favorer of all, and whose arms are open and
ready to embrace and set thee on his shoulders. Be-
ware of hiding anything through shame or through weak-
ness,

Having heard these words the penitent took oath,
after the Mexican fashion, to tell the truth. He touched
the ground with his hand and licked off the earth that
adhered to it;” then he threw copal in the fire, which
was another way of swearing to tell the truth. Then
he set himself down before the priest and, inasmuch as
he held him to be the image and vicar of god, he, the
penitent, began to speak after this fashion: O our Lord
who receivest and shelterest all, give ear to my foul
deeds; in thy presence I strip, I put away from myself
what shameful things soever I havedone. Not from thee,
of a verity, are hidden my crimes, for to thee all things
are manifest and clear. Having thus said, the penitent
proceeded to relate his sins in the order in which they
had been committed, clearly and quietly, as in a slow and

38 Other descriptions of this rite are given with additional details: ‘ Usa-
ban una ceremonia generalmente en toda esta tierra, hombres y mugeres,
nifios y nifias, que quando entraban en algun lugar donde habia imagenes de
los idolos, una 6 muchas, luego tocaban en la tierra con e) dedo, y lue
le llegaban & la boca 6 4 la lengua: 4 esto llamaban comer tierra, haciendolo
en reverencia de sus Dioses, y todos los que salian de sus casas, aunque no
saliesen del pueblo, volviendo 4 su casa hacian lo mismo, y por los caminos
quando pasaban delante algun Cu i oratorio hacian lo mismo, y en lugar de
juramento usaban esto mismo, que para afirmar quien decia verdad hacian
esta ceremonia, y los que se querian satisfacer del que hablaba si decia ver-
dad, demandabanle hiciese esta ceremonia, luego le creian como juramento
...-Tenian tambien costumbre de hacer juramento de cumplir alguna cosa 4
que se obligaban, y aquel 4 quien se obligaban les demandaba que hiviesen
juramento para estar seguro de su palabra y el juramento que hacian era en
esta forma: Por vida del Sol y de nuestra sefiora la tierra que no falte en lo
que tengo dicho, y mayor seguridad como estn tierra; y luego tocaba
con los dedos en la tierra, Negubalos 4 la boca y lamialos; y asi comia tierra
haciendo juramento.’ Kingsborough’s Mex. Antig., vol. vil., pp. 95-6, 101;
Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom, ii., lib. i, ap., pp. 212, 226; Clavigero, Storia Ant,
del Messico, tom. ii., p. 25,

paper
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PENANCES.

distinctly pronounced chant, as one that walked along a

very straight way turning neither to the right hand nor
to the left. When he had done the priest answered him
as follows: My son, thou hast spoken before our Lord
God, revealing to him thine evil works; and I shall now
tell thee what thou hast todo. When the goddesses Civa-
pipilti descend to the earth, or when it is the time of
the festival of the four sister goddesses of carnality that
are called Yxcuina, thou shalt fast four days afflicting
thy stomach and thy mouth; this feast of the Yxcuina
being come, at daybreak thou shalt do penance suitable
to thy sins. Through a hole pierced by a maguey-thorn
through the middle of thy tongue thou shall pass certain
osier-twigs called teuwcalzacatl or tlacotl, passing them in
front of the face and throwing them over the shoulder
one by one; or thou mayest fasten them the one to the
other and so pull them through thy tongue like a long
cord. These twigs were sometimes passed through a
hole in the ear; and, wherever they were passed, it
would appear by our author that there were sometimes
used of them by one penitent to the number of four
hundred, or even of eight hundred.

If the sin seemed too light for such a punishment as
the preceding, the priest would say to the penitent: My
son, thou shalt fast, thou shall fatigue thy stomach with
hunger and thy mouth with thirst, and that for four
days, eating only once on each day and that at noon.
Or, the priest would say to him: Thou shalt go to offer
paper in the usual places, thou shalt make images covered
therewith in number proportionate to thy devotion, thou
shalt sing and dance before them as custom directs. Or,
again, he would say to him: Thou hast offended God,

33 Quite different versions of this sentence are given by Kingsborough’s
and Bustamante’s editions respectively. That of Kingsborough's Mea, Antiq ,
vol, vii., p. 7, reads: ‘Quando decienden 4 la tierra las Diosas Jxcuiname,
luego de majiana 6 en amaneciendo, paragne hagas la penitencia convenible
por tus pecados.’ That of Bustamante, Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. i.
p. 13, reads: ‘Cuando descienden 4 la tierra las diosas Mamadas C'ivapipilti, 6
cuando se hace la fiesta de las diosas de la carnalidad que se llaman Yalui-
name, ayunaris cuatro dias afligiendo tu estémago fh boca, y legado el

dia de lu fiesta de estas diosas Yatuiname, luego de mafiana é en amaneciendo
para que hagas la penitencia converible por tus pecados.’

384 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

thou hast got drunk; thou must expiate the matter be-
fore Totochti, the god of wine; and when thou goest to
do penance thou shalt go at night, naked, save only a
piece of paper hanging from thy girdle in front, and an-
other behind; thou shalt repeat thy prayer and then
throw down there before the gods those two pieces of
paper, and so take thy departure.

This confession was held not to have been made to
a priest, or to a man, but to God; and, inasmuch as it
could only be heard once in a man’s life, and, as for a
relapse into sin after it there was no forgiveness, it was
generally put off till old age. The absolution given by
the priest was valuable in a double regard; the absolved
was held shriven of every crime he had confessed, and
clear of all pains and pen*‘ties, temporal or spiritual,
civil or ecclesiastical, due therefor. ‘Thus was the fiery
lash of Nemesis bound up, thus were struck down alike
the staff of Minos and the sword of Themis before the
awful cegis of religion. It may be imagined with what
reluctance this last hope, this unique life-confession was
resorted to; it wasthe onecity of refuge, the one Mexi-
can benefit of sanctuary, the sole horn of the altar, of
which a man might once take hold and live, but no
more again for ever.™

.

34 * De esto bien se arguye que aunque habian hecho muchos pecados en
tiempo de su juventud, no se confesaban de ellos hasta la vejez, por no se
objigar 4 cesar de pecar antes de la vejez, por la opinion que tenian, que el
que tornaba 4 reincidir en los pecados, al que se confesaba una vez no tenia
remedio.’ Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. vii., pp. 6-8: Sahagun, Hist. Gen.,
tom.i., lib. i., pp. 10-16. Prescott writes, Mew., vol. i., p. 68: ‘It is re-
markable that they administered the rites of confession and absolution.
The secrets of the confessional were held inviolable, and penances were im-
be of much the same kind as those enjoined in the Roman Catholic

hurch. There were two remarkable peculiarities in the Aztec ceremony.
The first was, that, as the repetition of an offence, once atoned for, was
deemed inexpiable, confession was made but once in» man’s life, and was
usually deferred to a late period of it, when the penitent unburdened his
conscience, and settled, at once, the long arrears of iniquity. Another pecu-
liarity was, that priestly absolution was received in place of the legal punish-
ment of offences, and authorized an acquital in case of arrest.’ ention of
Tlazolteotl will be found in Gomara, Cong. Mew, fol. 309; Torquemada,
Monarq. Ind., tom. ii.. pp. 62, 79; Herrera, Hist, Gen., tom. i., dec. ii., lib. vi.,
cap. xv.; Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Messico, tom. ii., p. 21. They say that
Yxcuina, who was the goddess of shame, protected adulterers. She was the
goddess of salt, of dirt, and of immodesty, and the cause of all sins: They
painted her with two faces, or with two different colors on the face. She

newed 1
kingdon
the fest
ticular];
The a
five anc
branches
the top.
tity, on }
was the wife
of prostitute
lucky, and ¢
Pb or p
Bourbour Mig
% See this
Vo

Se i ee EE I Ie
oe

GOD oF FIRE, 885

The Mexican

was usually called Xi;
names such

already noticed

however, other
Y, ‘ yellow-faced 4

re;’ and Hue-
: ' ient god.’ His idol represented
a naked man, : i, and wearing
& lip-jewel of Ted stone. Qn his h Was a parti-
Colored paper crown, with green plumes issuing from the
top of it like flames of fire 3 from the sides hung tassels
of feathers down to the ears. The ear-rings of the image
were of turquoise Wrought in mosaic. On the idol's
back was a dragon’s head made of yellow feathers and

some little marine shells, To the ankles
little be

the top. This tree h eged by
City, on rolle great p

also the goddess
ich were all un-

79, Quatre Lettres,
5 See this vol., pp. 21
Vor, IT,

886 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

bruising or spoiling it; and the women met the entering
procession giving those that dragged cacao to drink.
The tree, which was called xocot/, was received into the
court of a cu with shouts, and there set up in a hole in
in the ground and allowed to remain for twenty days.
On the eve of the festival Xocotlvetzi, they let this large
tree or pole down gently to the ground, by means of
ropes and tressles, or rests, made of beams tied two and
two, probably in an X shape; and carpenters dressed it
perfectly smooth and straight, and, where the branches
had been left, near the top, they fastened with ropes a
kind of yard or cross-beam of five fathoms long. Then
was prepared, to be set on the very top of the pole or
tree, a statue of the god Xiuhtecutli, made like a man
out of the dough of wild amaranth seeds, and covered
and decorated with innumerable white papers. Into
the head of the image were stuck strips of paper instead
of hair; sashes of paper crossed the body from each
shoulder; on the arms were pieces of paper like wings,
painted over with figures of sparrow-hawks; a max-
tle of paper covered the loins; and a kind of paper
shirt or tabard: covered all. Great strips of paper, half a
fathom broad and ten fathoms long, floated from the
feet of the dough god half way down the tree; and into
his head were struck three rods with a tamale or small
pie on the top of each. The tree being now prepared
with all these things, ten ropes were attached to the
middle of it, and by the help of the above-mentioned
tressles and a large crowd pulling all together, the whole
structure was reared into an upright position and there
fixed, with great shouting and stamping of feet.

Then came all those that had captives to sacrifice;
they came decorated for dancing, ali the body painted
yellow (which is the livery color of the god), and the
face vermilion. The wore a mass of the red plumage
of the parrot, arran,; 1 to resemble a buiterfly, and
carried shields covere with white feathers and as it
were the feet of tiger or eagles walking. Each one
went dancing side by ide with his captive. These

et ee ae ee

FESTIVAL OF THE FIRE GOD.

captives had the body painted white, and the face ver-
milion, save the cheeks which were black; they were
adorned with papers, much, apparently, as the dough
image was, and they had white feathers on the head aad
lip-ornaments of feathers. At set of sun the dancing
ceased; the captives were shut up in the calpulli, and
watched by their owners, not being even allowed to sleep.
About midnight every owner shaved away the hair of
the top of the head of his slave, which hair, being
fastened with red thread to a little tuft of feathers, he
put in a small case of cane, and at.xched to the raf-
ters of his house, that every one might see that he was a
valiant man and had taken a captive. The knife with
which this shaving was accomplished was called the claw
of the sparrow-hawk. At daybreak the doomed and
shorn slaves weve arranged in order in front of the place
called Tzompantli, where the skulls of the sacrificed were
spitted in rows. Here one of the priests went along the
row of captives taking from them certain little banners
that they carried and all their raiment or adornment,
and burning the same in a fire; for raiment or orna-
ment these unfortunates should need no more on earth.
While they were standing thus all naked and wait-
ing for death, there came another priest, carrying in
his arms the image of the god Paynal and his
ornaments; he ran up with this idol to the top
of the cu Tlacacouhcan where the victims were to
die. Down he came, then up again, and as he went
up the second time the owners took their slaves by
the hair and led them to the place called Apetlac and
there left them. Immediately there descended from the
cu those that were to execute the sacrifice, bearing bags
of a kind of stupefying incense called yiauhtl,® which

36‘ Tl] Jauhtli é una pianta, il cui fusto e lungo un cubito, le foglie somigli-
anti a quelle del Salcio, ma dentate, i fiori gialli, e la radice sottile. Cos) i
fiori, come )’altre parti del’a pianta, hanno lo stesso odore e sapore dell’
Anice. FE’ assai utile per la Medicina, ed i Medici Messicani l’adoperavano
contro parecchie malattie; ma servivansi ancora d’essa per alcuni usi super-
stiziosi.’ This is the note pbs by Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom.
ii., p. 77, in describing this festival, and the incense used for stupefying the
victims; see a different note however, in this vol., p. 339, in which Molina

888 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

they threw by handfuls into the faces of the victims
to deaden somewhat their agonies in the fearful death
before them. Each captive was then bound hand and
foot and so carried up to the top of the cu where smoul-
dered a huge heap of live coal. The carriers heaved their
living burdens in; and the old narrative gives minute
details about the great hole made in the sparkling embers
by each slave, and how the ashy dust rose in a cloud as
he fell. As the dust settled the bound bodies could be
seen writhing and jerking themselves about in torment
on their soft dull-red bed, and their flesh could be heard
crackling and roasting. Now came a part of the cere-
mony requiring much experience and judgment; the
wild-eyed priests stood grappling-hook in hand biding
their time. The victims were not to die in the fire, the
instant the great blisters began to rise handsomely over
their scorched skins it was enough, they were raked
out. The poor blackened bodies were then flung on the
‘tajon’ and the agonized soul dismissed by the sacrificial
breast-cut (from nipple to nipple, or a little lower); the
heart was then torn out and cast at the feet of Xiuhte-
cutli, god of fire.

This slaughter being over, the statue of Paynal was
carried away to its own cu and every man went home to
eat. And the young men and boys, all those called

leque,*" because they had a lock of hair at the nape
of the neck, came, together with all the people, the
women in order among the men, and began at mid-day
to dance and to sing in the couri-yard of Xiuhtecutli;
the place was so crowded that there was hardly room to
move. Suddenly there arose a great cry, and a rush
was made out of the court toward the place where was
raised the tall tree already described at some length.
Let us shoulder our way forward, not without risk to

describes ylauhili as ‘black maize.’ In some cases, according to Mendieta,
Hist, Ecles., p. 100, there was given to the condemned a certain drink that
ut them beside themselves, 80 that they went to the sacrifice with a ghastly
unken etd gay
37 Cue, Ui, cabello lnsgo go que dexan a los muchachos en el cogote, quando
los tresquil jan.’ Molina, Vocabulario,

statu
the p
ing o
shout
tude,
weapc
with {
couhe:;
endur
ful for
by the
shells,
on the
with a
with al
of Xiul

38 King

CLIMBING FOR THE GOD. 389

our ribs, and see what we can see: there stands the tall
pole with streamers of paper and the ten ropes by which
it was raised dangling from it. On the top stands the
dough image of the fire god, with all his ornaments and
weapons, and with the three tamales sticking out so
oddly above his head. Ware clubs! we press too close;
shoulder to shoulder in a thick serried ring round the
foot of the pole stand the ‘captains of the youths’ keep-
ing the youngsters back with cudgels, till the word be
given at which a!l may begin to climb the said pole for
the great prize at the top. Butthe youths are wild for
fame; old renowned heroes look on; the eyes of all the
women of the city are fixed on the great tree where it
shoots above the hea”. of the struggling crowd; glory to
him who first gains the cross-beam and the image.
Stand back, then, ye captains, let us pass! There isa
rush, and a trampling, and despite a rain of blows, all
the pole with its hanging ropes is aswarm with climbers,
thrusting each other down. The first youth at the top
seizes the idol of dough; he takes the shield and the
arrows and the darts and the stick ata# for throwing
the darts; he takes the tamales from the head of the
statue, crumbles them up, and throws the crumbs with
the plumes of the image down into the crowd; the secur-
ing of which crumbs and plumes is a new occasion for
shouting and scrambling and fisticuffs among the multi-
tude. When the young hero comes down with the
weapons of the god which he has secured, he is received
with far-roaring applause and carried up to the cu Tlaca-
couhcan, there to receive the reward of his activity and
endurance, praises and jewels and a rich mantle not law-
ful for another to wear, and the honor of being carried
by the priests to his house, amid the music of horns and
shells, The festivity is over now; all the people lay hold
on the ropes fastened to the tree, and pull it down
with a crash that breaks it to pieces, together, apparently,
with all that is left of the wild-amaranth-dough image
of Xiuhtecutli.”

38 Kingaborough's Mew, Antig., vol. vii., pp. 8-0, 28, 63-6; Sahagun, Hist,

390 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Another feast of the god of fire was held in the month
Yzcalli, the eighteenth month; it was called motlaxqui-
antota, that is to say ‘our father the fire toasts his food.’
An image of the god of fire was made, with a frame of
hoops and sticks tied together as the basis or model to be
covered with his ornaments. On the head of this image
was put a shining mask of turquoise mosaic, banded
across with rows of green chalchiuites. Upon the mask
was put a crown fitting to the head below, wide above,
and gorgeous with rich plumage as a flower; a wig of
reddish hair was attached to this crown so that the
evenly cut locks flowed from below it, behind and around
the mask, as if they were natural. A robe of costly
feathers covered all the front of the image and fell over the
ground before the feet, so light that it shivered and floated
with the least breath of air till the variegated feathers
glittered and changed color like water. The back of the
image seems to have been left unadorned, concealed by
a throne on which it was seated, a throne covered with
a dried tiger-skin, paws and head complete. Before this
statue new fire was produced at midnight by boring
rapidly by hand one stick upon another; the spunk or
tinder so inflamed was put on the hearth and a fire lit.”
At break of day came all the boys and youths with game
and fish that they had captured on the previous day;
walking round the fire, they gave it to certain old men
that stood there, who taking it threw it into the flames
before the god, giving the youths in return certain tam-
ales that had been made and offered for this purpose by
the women. ‘To eat these tamales it was necessary to
strip off the maize-leaves in which they had been wrapped
and cooked; these leaves were not thrown into the fire,
Gen., tom, i., lib. i., pp. 16-19, lib. fi., pp. 62-4, 141-8; Clavigero, Storia Ant.
del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 16, 76; Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano,
(Vaticano), tav. Ivi., in Kingsborough s Mew. ane vol, v., ‘

39‘ Esta estatua asi adornado no lejos de un lugar que estaba delante de
ella, 4 la media noche sacaban fuego nuevo para que ardiese en aquel lugar,

y sacabanlo con unos palos, uno puesto abajo, y sobre él barrenaban con
otro palo, como torciendole entre las manos con gran prisa, y con aquel

movimiento y calor se encendia el fuego, y alli lo tomaban con rere y en-

yg en el hogar,’ Kingsborough's Mex, Antig., vol. vii., p. 84; Sahagun,

Tist. Gen., tom. i,, lib. ii, p. 184.

unlue
as im
die cx
shoul
naked
were (
the cu

40 Or
Molina,

FOURTH YEAR FESTIVAL. 391

but were all put together and thrown into water. After

this all the old men of the ward in which the fire was,

drank pulque and sang before the image of Xiuhtecutli
till night. This was the tenth day of the month and
thus finished that feast, or that part of the feast, which
was called vauquitamalqualiali.

On the twentieth and last day of the month was made
another statue of the fire god, with a frame of sticks and
hoops as already described. They put on the head of it
a mask with a ground of mosaic of little bits of the shell
called tapaztli,® composed below the mouth of black stones,
banded across the nostrils with black stones of another
sort, and the cheeks made of a still different stone called
tezcapuchtli, As in the previous case there was a crown
on this mask, and over all and over the body of the
image costly and beautiful decorations of feather-work.
Before the throne on which this statue sat there was a
fire, and the youths offered game to and received cakes
from the old men with various ceremonies; the day
being closed with a great drinking of pulque by the old
people, though not to the point of intoxication. Thus
ended the eighteenth month; and with regard to the two
ceremonies just described, Sahagun says, that though
not observed in all parts of Mexico, they were observed
at least in Tezcuco.

It will be noticed that the festivals of this month have
been without human sacrifices; but every fourth year was
an exception to this. In such a year on the twentieth
and last day of this eighteenth month, being also, according
to some, the last day of the year, the five Nemonteni, or
unlucky days, being excepted, men and women were slain
as images of the god of fire. ‘The women that had to
die carried all their apparel and ornaments on. their
shoulders, and the men did the same. Arrived thus
naked where they had to die, men and women alike
were decorated to resemble the god of fire; they ascended
the cu, walked round the sacrificial stone, and then de-

49 Or tapashiti ns Bustamante spells it, ‘ Tapachili, cral, concha o venera,'
Molina, Vocabulario,

802 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

scended and returned to the place where they were to
be kept for the night. Each male victim had a rope tied
round the middle of his body which was held by his
guards. At midnight the hair of the crown of the head
of each was shaven off before the fire and kept for a
relic, and the head itself was covered with a mixture
of resin and hens’ feathers. After this the doomed
ones burned or gave away to their keepers their now
useless apparel, and as the morning broke they were
decorated with papers and led in procession to die, with
singing and shouting and dancing. These festivities
went on till mid-day, when a priest of the cu, arrayed in
the ornaments of the god Paynal, came down, passed
before the victims, and then went up again. They were
led up after him, captives first and slaves after, in the
order they had to die in; they suffered in the usual
manner. There was then a grand dance of the lords,
ied by the king himself; each dancer wearing a high-
fronted paper coronet, a kind of false nose of blue paper,
ear-rings of turquoise mosaic, or of wood wrought with
flowers, a blue curiously flowered jacket, and a mantle.
Hanging to the neck of each was the figure of a dog
made of paper and painted with flowers; in the right
hand was carried a stick shaped like a chopping-knife,
the lower half of which was painted red and the upper
half white; in the left hand was carried a little paper
bag of copal. This dance was begun on the top of the
cu and finished by descending and going four times
round the court-yard of the cu; after which all entered
the palace with the king. This dance took place only
once in four years, and none but the king and his lords
could take part in it. On this day the ears of all chil-
dren born during the three preceding years were bored
with a bone awl, and the children themselves passed
near or through the flames of a fire as already related."
There was a further ceremony of taking the children by
the head and lifting them up “to make them grow;’

4t Bee this vol., p. 376, note 27,

eae

iy lib, ii

en wy°

—_ fe
Set ee, ee | ee re a
eS eet

ap |,

THE GREAT NEW FIRE FESTIVAL, .

and from this the month took its name, Yzcalli meani
‘growth,’

898
ng

8enerally obsery re a custom

ed in honor of fi
was that no on

of this ne

part, and the task fol]

Copolco, On the last

the sun had set

with the dress a i Gods, s0 as to
themselveg appea set out in pro.
* Kingsboro h's Mec, Antiq, » Gen,
tom, i, hb, ings 74-5, 184) leyazione delle
Tavola del Codive Mexicano, orough's Meg,

Antiq., vol, y, p ; { ria Ant, del M m. ii., p, 89,
' ith Kingado ‘ Mew, Anti i ist, Gen., tom,

804 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

cession for the mountain, walking very slowly, with
much gravity and silence, as befitted the occasion and
the garb they wore, ‘‘ walking,” as they phrased it, “ like
gods.” The priest of the ware of Copolco, whose office
it was to produce the fire, carried the instruments there-
of in his hand, trying them from time to time to see that
all was right. Then, a little before midnight, the mount-
ain being gained, and a cu which was there builded for
that ceremony, they began to watch the heavens and
especially the motion of the Pleiades. Now this night
always fell so that at midnight these seven stars were in
the middle of the sky with respect to the Mexican hori-
zon; and the priests watched them to see them pass the
zenith and so give sign of the endurance of the world,
for another fifty and two years. That sign was the
signal for the production of the new fire, lit as follows.
The bravest and finest of the prisoners taken in war was
thrown down alive, and a board of very dry wood was
put upon his breast; upon this the acting priest ~+ the
critical moment bored with another stick, twirling it
rapidly between his palms till fire caught. Then in-
stautly the bowels of the captive were laid open, his
heart torn out, and it with all the body thrown upon and
consumed by a pile of fire. All this time an awful
anxiety and suspense held possession of the people at
large; for it was said, that if anything happened to pre-
vent the production at the proper time of te new fire,
there would be an end of the human race, the night and
the darkness would be perpetual, and those terrible and
ugly beings the Tzitzimitles“ would descend to devour
all mankind. As the fateful hour approached, the people
gathered on the flat house-tops, no one willingly remain-
ing below. All pregnant women, however, were closed
into the granaries, their faces being covered with maize-
leaves; for it was said that if the new fire could not be
produced, these women would turn into fierce animals
and devour men and women. Children also had masks

4¢ Or Isitsimites as on p. 427 of this vol.

4 = er ome ' = *

nF @Q~ &

FEAST OF THE NEW FIRE. 895

of maize-leaf put on their faces, and they were kept
awake by cries and pushes, it being believed that if they
were allowed to sleep they would become mice.

From the crowded house-tops every eye was bent on
Vixachtlan. Suddenly a moving speck of light was
seen by those nearest, and then a great column of flame
shot up against the sky. The new fire! and a great
shout of joy went up from all the country round about.
The stars moved on in their courses; fifty and two years
more at least had the universe to exist. Every one did
penance, cutting his ear with a splinter of flint and
scattering the blood toward the part where the fire was;
even the ears of children in the cradle were so cut.
And now from the blazing pile on the mountain, burn-
ing brands of pine candle-wood were carried by the
swiftest runners toward every quarter of the kingdom.
In the city of Mexico, on the temple of Huitzilopochtli,
before the altar, there was a fire-place of stone and lime
containing much copal; into this a blazing brand was
flung by the first runner, and from this place fire was
carried to all the houses of the priests, and thence again
to all the city. There soon blazed great central fires in
every ward, and it was a thing to be seen the multitude
of people that came together to get light, and the gene-
ral rejoicings.

The hearth-fires being thus lit, the inhabitants of every
house began to renew their household gods and furni-
ture, and to lay down new mats, and to put on new
raiment; they made everything new in sign of the new
sheaf of years; they beheaded quails, and burned in-
cense in their court-yard toward the four quarters of the
world, and on their hearths. After eating a meal of
wild amaranth seed and honey, a fast was ordered, even
the drinking of water till noon being forbidden. Then
the eating and drinking were renewed, sacrifices of slaves
and captives were made, and the great fires renewed.
The last solemn festival of the new fire was celebrated
in the year 1507, the Spaniards being not then in the
land; and through their presence, there was no public

ee ee ee ee ere.

896 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

ceremony when the next sheaf of years was finished in
1559.*

Mictlan, the Mexican hades, or place of the dead,
signifies either primarily, or by an acquired meaning,
‘northward, or toward the north,’ though many authori-
ties have located it underground or below the earth.
This region was the seat of the power of a god best
known under his title of Mictlantecutli; his female com-
panion was called Mictlancihuatl, made identical by some
legends with Tlazolteotl, and by others apparently witia the
serpent-woman and mother goddess.“ There has been dis-

45 Kingsborough’s Mex. Antig., vol. vii., pp. 157, 191-3; Sahaqun, Hist.
Gen., tom. i., lib. iv., ap., pp. 346-7, tom. ii., lib. vii., pp. 260-4; Torque-
mada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 292-5; Boturini, Idéa, pp. 18-21; Clavi-
gero, Storia Ant.. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 62, 84-5; Mendieta, Hist, Ecles., p.
101; Acosta, Hist. de las Yndias, pp. 398-9. Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt
i., pp. 51-55, differs somewhat from the text; he was unfortunute in never
having seen the works of Sahagun.

46 This vol. p. 59. The interpretations of the codices represent this god
as peculiarly honored in their paintings: They place Michitlatecotle oppo-
site to the sun, to see if he can rescue any of those seized upon by the lords
of the dead, for Michitla signifies the dead below. These nations painted
only two of their gods with the crown called Altoutcatecoatle, viz., the God
of heaven and of abundance and this lord of thé dead, which kind of crown
I have seen upon the captains in the war of Coutle. Explicacion del Codex
Telleriano Remensis, pt ii., lam. xv., in Kingsborough’s Mex. Antiq., vol. v.,
p. 140. Miquitlantecotli signifies the great lord of the dead fellow in hell
who alone after Tonacatecotle was painted with a crown, which kind of a
crown was used in war even after the arrival of the Christians in those coun-
tries, and was seen in thc war of Coatlan, as the person who copied these

wintings relates, who was a brother of the Order of Saint Dominic, named

edro de los Rios. They painted this demon near the sun; for in the same
way as they believed that the one conducted souls to heaven, so they supposed
that the other carried them to hell. He is here represented with his hands
open and stretched tow.rd the sun, to seize on any soul which might escape
from him. Spieqazione delle Tavole del Codice Mewicano (Vaticano), tav. xxxiv.,
in Kingsboroujh’s Mew, Antiq., vol. v., p. 182. The Vatican Codex snys further-
that these were four gods or principal demons in the Mexican hell. Miquit-
lamtecot! or Zitzimiti; Yzpunteque, the lame demon, who appeared in the
streets with the feet of a cock; Nextepelma, scatterer of ashes; and Contemoque,
he who descends head-foremost. ‘These four have goddesses, not as wives,
but as companions, which was the simple relation in which all the Mexican
god and god:lesses stood to one another, there having been—according to
most authorities—in their olymbna neither marrying nor giving in marriage.
Picking our way as well as possible across the frightful spelling of the inter-
ieee the males and females seem paired as follows: ‘To Miquitlamtecotl or

zitzimitl, was joined as goddess, Miquitecacigna; to Yzpunteque, Nexoxocho;
to Nextepelma, Micapetlacoli; and to Contemoque, Chalmecaciuatl. Spie;azi-
one delle ‘Uavole del Codice Mexicano (Vaticano), tav., iii., iv., in Kingsborough’s
Mee, Antiq., vol. v., pp. 162-3; Boturint, Idéa, Pp 80-1; Sahagun, Hist. Gen.,
tom. i., iio. iii., ap. pp: 260-3; Kingaborough's Mew. Antig., vol. v., pp. 116-

17, says that this god was known by the further name of Tzontemoc and Acul-

noir (¢
Tlagolt
qu'elle
On la |
me un
Ttzcuin
Rem.,

Sicile «
ges, or
8e3 tro:
Vune e
pied de

, AUX Vo}

rois.
qonie de

constel
divinite
un grat
on en f
Tell- Re
Dos Pie

TEOYAOMIQUE. 397

covered and there is now to be seen in the city of Mexico
a huge compound statue, representing various deities, the
most prominent being a certain goddess Teoyaomique,
who, it seems to me, is almost identical with or at least

naoacatl. Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 6,17. Gallatin,
Amer. Ethnol, Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 350-1, says that ‘Mictlanteuctli is
specially distinguished by the interpreters as one of the crowned gods. His
representation is found under the basis of the statue of Teoyaomiqui, and
Gama has published the copy. According to him, the name of that god
means, the god of the place of the dead. He presided over the funeral of
those who died of diseases. The souls of all those killed in battle were led
by Teoyaomiqui to the dwelling of the sun. ‘he others fell under the do-
minion of Mictanteuctli.’ Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom.i., pp. 77, 148, 447,
tom. ii., p. 428. Brasseur de Bourbourg mentions this god and his wife,
bringing up several interesting points, for which, however, he must bear the
sole responsibility: S’i! Existe des Sources de l’Hist. Prim., pp. 98-9. ‘Du
fond des eaux qui couvraient le monde, ajoute un autre document mexicain
(Cod. Mex. Tell-Rem., fol. 4, v.), le dieu des régions d’en bas, Mictlan- Teuct-
li fait surgir un monstre marin nommé Cipaclli ou Capavili (Motolinia, Hist.
Antig. de los Indios, part. MS. Dans ce document, au lieu de cipactli il y a
capactli, qui n’est peut-étre qu'une erreur du copiste, mais qui, peut-étre
aussi est le souvenir d’une langue perdue et qui se rattacherait au capac ou
Manco-Capac du Pérou.): de ce monstre, qui a la forme d'un caiman, il crée
la terre (Motolinia, Ibid.). Ne sernit-ce pas la le crocodile, image du temps,
chez les Ngyptiens, et ainsi que l’indique Champollion (Dans Herapollon, i.,
69 et 70, le crocodile est le symbole du couchant et des t¢nébres) symbole
également de la Région du Couchant, de 1’Amenti? Dans 1l’Orcus 1aexi-
cain, le prince des Morts, Mictlan-Tevctli, a pour compagne Mictecacihuatl,
celle qui étend les morts. Ox l'appelle Jecuina, ou la déesse au
visage peint ou au double visag., parce qu’elle avait le visage de
deux couleurs, rouge avec le contour de la bouche et du nez peint en
noir (Cod, Mew. Tell-Rem., fol. 18, v.). On lui donnait aussi le nom de
Tlagolteoti, ln déesse de l’ordure, ou Tlacolquani, la mangeuse d’ordure, parce
qu'elle présidait aux amours et aux plaisirs lubriques avec ses trois scours.
On la trouve personifi¢e encore avec Vhantico, quelquefois représentée com-
me un chien, soit A cause de sa lubricité, soit & cause du nom de Chiucnauh-
Itzcuinili ou_les Neuf-Chiens, qu’on lui donnait également (Cod. Mex Tell-
Rem., fol. 21, v.). C’est ainsi que dans I’Italie anté-pélasgique, dans la
Sicile et dans l’fle de Samothrace, antérieurement aux Thraces et aux Pélas-
ges, on adorait une Zérinthia, une Hécate, déesse Chienne qui nourrissait
se3 trois fils, ses trois chiens, sur le méme autel, dans la demeure souterraine;
Vune et l’autre rappelaient ainsi le souvenir de ces hétaires qui veillaient au
pied des pyramides, ot elles se prostituaient aux marins, aux marchands et
, aux voyageurs, pour ramasser l’argent nécessaire 4 1'¢rection des tombeaux des
rois. ‘Tout un calcul des temps, dit Eckstein (Sur les sources de la Cosmo-
qonie de Sanchoniathon, pp. 101, 197), se rattache A l’adoration solaire de cette
déesse et de ses fils. Le Chien, le Sirius, régne dans l’nstre de ce nom, au
zénith de l'année, durant les jours de la canicule. On connait le cycle ou la
période que préside l’astre du chien: on sait qu’il ne se rattache pas seule-
ment aux institutions de la vieille Egypte, mais encore A celles de la haute
Asie.’’ En Amérique le nom de ln déesse Jacuina se rattache également A la
constellation du sud, ot on la personnifie encore aveo /etlacoliuhqui, autre
divinité des ivrognen et des amours obscénes: les astrologues lui attribunient
un grand pouvoir sur les événements de ln guerre, et, dans les derniers temps,
on en faisait dépendre le chatiment des adultires et des incestueux (Cod. Mca.
Tell-Rem,, fol. 16, v.).’ See also, Brinton's Myths, pp. 130-7; Leon y Gama,
Dos » pti., p. 12, pt ii, pp. 66-6.

ee ean eee

898 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

a connecting link between the mother goddess and the
companion of Mictlantecutli. Mr Gallatin says“ that
the Mexican gods ‘“‘ were painted in different ways ac-
cording to their various attributes and names: and the
priests were also in the habit of connecting with the
statue of a god or goddess, symbols of other deities which
partook of a similar character. Gama has adduced
several instances of both practices, in the part of his dis-
sertation which relates to the statue of the goddess of
death found buried in the great Square of Mexico of
which he, and lately Mr Nebel, have given copies.“ Her
name is Teoyaomiqui, which means, to die in sacred war,
or ‘in defense of the gods,’ and she is the proper com-
panion of Huitzilopochtli, the god of war. The symbols
of her own attributes are found in the upper part of the
statue: but those from the waist downwards relate to
other deities connected with her or with Huitzilopochtli.
The serpents are the symbols of his mother Cohuatlycue,
and also of Cihuacohuatl, the serpent woman who begat
twins, male and female, from which mankind proceeded:
the same serpents and feathers are the symbol of Quez-
atlcohuatl, the precious stones designate Chalchihuitlycue,
the goddess of water; the teeth and claws refer to Tlaloc
and to Tlatocaocelocelotl (the tiger king): and together

47 Amer. Ethnol. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 338-9,
48 Speaking of the greet image in the Mexican museum of antiquities sup-
posed by some to be this Mexican goddess of war, or of death, Teoyaomique,
r Tylor says, Anahuac, pp. 222-3: ‘The stone known as the statue of the
war-goddess is a huge block of basalt covered with sculptures. The anti-
quaries think that the figures on it stand for different personages, and that
it is three gods,—Huitzilopochtli the god of war, Teoyaomiqui his wife, and
Mictlanteuctli the god of hell. It hasnecklaces of alternate hearts and dead

men’s hands, with death’s head for a central ornament. At the bottom of ,

the block is a strange sprawling figure, which one cannot see now, for it is
the base which rests on the ground; but there are two shoulders projecting
from the idol, which show plainly that it did not stand on the ground, but
was supported aloft on the tops of two pillars. The figure varved upon the
bottom represents a monster holding a skull in each hand, while others hang
from his knees and elbows. His mouth is a mere oval ring, a common fea-
ture of Mexican idols, and four tusks Project just above it, The new moon
lnid down like a bridge forms his forehead, and a star is placed on each side
of it. This is thought to have been the conventional representation of Mict-
lanteuctli (Lord of the land of the dead), the of hell, which was a place
of utter and eternal darkness. Probably each victim as he was led to the
altar could look up between the two pillars and see the hideous god of hell
stariug down upon him from above.’ ;

nam
chie
Teo
coll
thos
thes (
says
mi
and
war,
furth
the d
of de
From
whic
mique
memo
and s
Mexic

49 Lec

50 Th
quemada
Indiano
cae, y ac
Po se aci
Frutas e1
iihuitl, q
porque e
nores, y
color neg
de Dia, y
tristeca, |
ban nom!
aladas, qi
enemigos
que aviar
otros Dio:

GAMA ON THE COMPOUND IMAGE. 899

with her own attributes, the whole is a most horrible
figure.”

Of this great compound statue of Huitzilopochtli (for
the most part under his name of Teoyaotlatohua), Teoyao-
mique, and Mictlantecutli, and of the three deities sepa-
rately Leon y Gama treats, in substance as follows,
beginning with Mictlantecutli:“—

The Chevalier Boturini mentions another of his
names, Teoyaotlatohua, and says that as director and
chief of sacred war he was always accompanied oy
Teoyaomique, a goddess whose business it was to
collect the souls of those that died in war and of
those that were sacrificed afterward as captives. Let
these statements be put alongside of what Torquemada
says, to wit, that in the great feast of the month Huei-
miccailhuitl,” divine names were given to dead kings
and to all famous persons who had died heroically in
war, and in the power of the enemy; idols were made
furthermore of these persons, and they were put with
the deities; for it was said that they had gone to the place
of delights and pleasures there to be with the gods.
From all this it would appear that before this image, in
which were closely united Teoyaotlatohua and Teoyao-
mique, there were each year celebrated certain rites in
memory and honor of dead kings and lords and captains
and soldiers fallen in battle. And not only did the
Mexicans venerate in the temple this image of many

49 Zeon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i., pp. 41-4.

50 The tenth month, so named by the Tlascaltecs and others. See Tor-
queens, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 298 ‘Al decimo Mes del Kalendario
ndiano Ilamaban sus Satrapas, Xocotlhuetzi, que quiere decir: Quando se
cae, y acaba la Fruta, y debia de ser, por esta racon, de que por aquel Tiem-
po se acnbaba, que cae en nuestro Agosto, é ik en todo este Mes se pnsan las
Frutas en tierra fria. Pero los Tiaxcaltecas, y otros lo lamaban Hueymicca-
ilhuitl, que quiere decir: La Fiesta maior de los Difuntos; y Jlwmavanla asi,
porque este Mes solemmnicaban la memoria de los Difuntos, con grandes cla-
mores, y Hantos, y doblados lutos, que la primera, y se tefiian los cuerpos de
color negro, y fe tiznaban toda la cara; y asi, las ceremonias, que se hacian
de Dia, y de Noche, en todos los Templos, y fuera de ellos, eran de mucha
tristeca, segun que cada yno a hacer eu sentimiento; y en este Mes da-
ban nombre de Divinos, sus Reies difuntos, y A todas aque!las Personas seti-
aladas, que havian muerto hacafiosamente en las Guerras, y en poder de sus

enemigos, y les hacian sus Idolos, y los colocaban, con aus Dioses, diciendo,

que avian ido al lugar de sun deleites, y pasatiempos, en compaiiia de los
otros Dioses.’

400 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

gods, but the judicial astrologers feigned a constellation
answering thereto and influencing persons born under
it. In depicting this constellation Teoyaotlatohua Huit-
zilopochtli was represented with only half his body, es
it were seated on a bench, and with his mouth open as
if speaking. His head was decorated after a peculiar
fashion with feathers, his arms were made like trunks
of trees with branches, while from his girdle there issued
certain herbs that fell downwards over the bench. Op-
posite this figure was Teoyaomique, naked save a thin
robe," and standing on a pedestal, apparently holding her
head in her hands, at any rate with her head cut off,
her eyes bandaged, and two snakes issuing from the neck
where the head should have been. Between the god
and the goddess was a flowering tree divided through the
middle, to which was attached a beam with various cross-
pieces, and over all was a bird with the head separated
from its body. There was to be seen also the head of a
bird in a cup, and the head of a serpent, together with
a pot turned upside down while the contents—water as
it would appear by the hieroglyphics attached—ran out.
In this form were painted these two gods, as one of
the twenty celestial signs, sufficiently noticed by Boturi-
ni, although as he confesses, he had not arranged them
in the proper order. Returning to notice the office at-
tributed to Teoyaomique, that of collecting the souls of
the dead, we find that Cristébal del Castillo says that
all born under the sign which, with the god of war, this
goddess ruled, were to become at an early age valorous
soldiers; but that their career was to be short as it was
5t As the whole description becomes a little puzzling here, I give the original,
Leon y Gama Dos Piedras, p. 42: ‘nfrente cle esta figura estA Teoyaomique
desnuda, y cubierta con solo un ced’, pareda sobre una basa, é porcion de
pilastra; la cabeza separada del cnerpo. arriba del cuello, con los ojos ven-
dados, y en su lugar dos v.boras 6 culubras, que nacen del mismo cuello,
Entre estas dos figuras estA un fr!»1 ‘ie flores partido por medio, al cual se
junta un madero con varios atin+es'.iios,.y encima de él una ave, cuya ca-
eza esti tambien dividida dei cuerpo. vé tambien otra cabeza de ave
dentro de una jicara, otra de sierpe, una olla con la boca para abajo, saliendo
de ela la materia que contenia dentro, cuya figura parece ser lu que usaban
para representar el agua; y finalmente ocupan el resto del cuadro [of the re-

resentation of the constellation above mentioned in the text] otros gerogli-
cos y figuras diferentes.’

devd we
ings, an
they we

death.
a term
lowers ]
should t
by the
carrying
bury the
or habita
the souls
which, ca
posed to
was last],
Joined wi:
tlamacazq
Vor

a

MICTECACIHUATL. 401

brilliant, for they were to fall in battle young. These
souls were to rise to heaven, to dwell in the house of the
sun, where were woods and groves. There they were to
exist four years, at the end of which time they were to
be converted into birds of rich and beautiful plumage,
and to go about sucking flowers both in heaven and on
earth.

To the statue mentioned above there was joined with
great propriety the image of another god, feigned to be
the god of hell, or of the place of the dead, which latter
is the literal signification of his name, Mictlantecutli.
This image was engraved in demi-relief on the lower
plane of the stone of the great compound statue; but it
was also venerated separately in its own proper temple, .
called Tlalxicco, that is to say, ‘in the bowels or navel
of the earth.’ Among the various offices attributed to
this deity was that of burying the corpses of the dead,
principally of those that died of natural infirmities; for
the souls of these went to hell to present themselves be-
fore this Mictlantecutli and before his wife Mictecacihu-
atl, which name Torquemada interprets as ‘she that
throws into hell.’ Thither indeed it was said that these
ded went to offer themselves as vassals carrying offer-
ings, and to have pointed out to them the places that
they were to occupy according to the manner of their
death. This god of hades was further called Tzontemoc,
a term interpreted by Torquemada to mean ‘he that
lowers his head; but it would rather appear that it
should take its signification from the action indicated
by the great statue, where this deity is seen as it were
carrying down tied to himself the heads of corpses to
bury them in the ground, as Boturini says. The places
or habitations supposed to exist in hell, and to which
the souls of the dead had to go were nine; in the last of
which, called Chicuhnauhmictlan, the said souls were s sup-
posed ‘to be annihilated and totally destroyed. ‘I'here
was lastly given to this god a place in heaven, he being
joined with one of the planets and accompanied by Teo-
tlamacazqui; at his feet, there was painted a body that

Von, It. 26

402 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

was half buried, or covered with earth from the head to
the waist, while the rest stuck out uncovered. It only
rem ..ns to be said that such was the veneration and re-
ligious feeling with which were regarded all things re-
lating to the dead, that not only there were invented for
them tutelary gods, much honored by frequent feasts and
sacrifice; but the Mexicans elevated Death itself, dedi-
cating to it aday of the calendar (the first day of the
sixth ‘trecena’), joining it to the -number of the celes-
tial signs; and erecting to it a sumptuous temple called
Folnahuac, within the circuit of the great temple of
Mexico, wherein it was particularly adored with holo-
causts and victims under the title Ce Miquiztli.”

5? Boturini, [déa, pp. 27-8, mentions the goddess Teoyaomique; on pp.
30-1, he notices the respect with which Mictlantecutli and the dead were re-
arded: ‘Me resto solo tratar de la decima tercia, y ultima Deidad esto es, el

ios del Inflerno, Geroglifico, que explica el piadoso acto de sepultar los
muertos, y el gran respeto, que estos antiguos Indios tenian & los sepulcros,
creyendo, Aimitacion de otras Nuciones, no solo que alli asistian las almas
de Jos Difuntos,... sino que tambien dichos Parientes eran sus Dioses Jndi-
Hound ita dicti, quasi inde geniti, cuyos huessos, y cenizns daban alli indubita-
les, y ciertas sefiales de el dominio, que tuvieron en aquella misma tierra,
donde se hallaban sepultados, la que havian domado con los sudores de la
Agricultura, y aun dofendian con los respetos, y eloquencia muda de sus cada.
veres, .... Nuestros Indios en la segunda Edad dedicaron dos meses de el
aio Mamados Micaylhuitl, y Hueymicaylhuill & la Commemoracion de los
Difuntos, y en la tercera exercitaron varios actos de piedad en su memoria,
Reels constante de que confessnron Ja immortalidad de el alma,’ See fur-
her Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 529-30, Of the compound idol
discussed above, Humboldt, Vues des Cordilléres, tom, ii., pp. 168-7, spenks
at some length. He says: ‘On distingue, & la partie supérieure, les tétes de
deux monstres accolds et l'on trouve, & chaque face, deux yeux et une large
gueule armée de quatre dents, Ces figures monstrueuses n’indiquent peut-
étre que des masques: car, chez les Mexicains, on étoit dans l’usage de mas-
quer les idoles & l’époque de la maladie d'un roi, et dans toute autre cala-
mité publique. Les bras et les pieds sont cachés sous une draperie entourée
d'énormes serpens, et que les Mexicains designoient sous le nom de cohualli-
cuye, vélement de serpent, ‘Tous ces accessoires, surtout les franges en formo
de plumes, sont sculptés avee le plus grand soin, M. Gama, dans un mé-
Moire perticuiier, a rendu tres-probable que cette idole représente ie dieu du
la guerre, si sp fit on Tlacahuepancuercotzin, et sa femme, appeléo
Teoyamiqui (de miqui, mourir, et de teoyao, guerre sivene) paroequ'elle
conduisoit los ames des guerriers morts pour la défense des dienx, A la mais
on du Soleil, le paradis des Mexicains, of elle les transformoit en colibris,
Les tites de morts et les mains coupées, dont quatre entourent le sein de la
déexse, rappellent les horribles sacrifices (teoquauhquetzoliztli) céldbrés dans
la quinziéme période de treize jours, apres le solstice d’été, A Vhonneur du
diet de la guerre et de an compagne Teoyamiqui, Les mains coupées ulter-
nent avec la figure de certains vases dans lesquels on briloit l’encena, Ces
vaser dtoient appelés tp-wivalli, sacs en forme de calebasse (de topili, bourse
tissue de fil de pite, et de wicali, cnlebasse), Cette idole ctant seulptée Bur
toutes ses faces, méme par dessous (fig. 5), 01 l'on voit reprénenté Afivilan-

anot
day
the
with
Both
he fi
lords
of ri
his it
bably

louhtli, |
on lair
quées A
tete de |
dessus ¢
les mall
figure a
3 Ac
1858, ton
do Chich
caine, et
le platea
tain (lo §
al hi
ixcohu
‘autre m
sidérds, t
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[Codex

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ont pris 1
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colle des |
4 Brin

MFIXCOATL., GOD OF HUNTING. 408

Mixcoatl is the god,—or goddess according to some
good uuthorities,—of hunting. The name means ‘cloud-
serpent’ and indeed seems common to a whole class of
deities or heroes somewhat resembling the Nibelungs of
northern Huropean mythology.” He is further sup-
posed to be connected with the thunderstorm: ‘‘ Mixco-
atl, the Cloud-Serpent, or Iztac-Mixcoatl, the White or
Gleaming Cloud-Serpent,” writes Brinton,“ ‘said to
have been the only divinity of the ancient Chichimecs,
held in high honor by the Nahuas, Nicaraguans, and
Otomis, and identical with Taras, supreme god of the
Tarascos, and Camaxtli, god of the Teo-Chichimecs, is
another personification of the thunder-storm, To this
day this is the familiar name of the tropical tornado in
the Mexican language. He was represented, like Jove,
with a bundle of arrows in his hand, the thunderbolts.
Both the Nahuas and Tarascos related legends in which
he figured as father of the race of man, ‘Like other
lords of the lightning he was worshiped as the dispenser
of riches and the petron of traffic; and in Nicaragua
his image is described as being ‘engraved stones’ pro-
bably the supposed products of the thunder.”

tewhtli, le seiqneur du lieu des morts, on ne sauroit douter qu'elle ctoit soutenue
en lair au moyen de deux colonnes sur lesyuelles reposoient les parties mur-
quées A et B, dans les figures 1 e¢ 3, D'aprés cette disposition bizarre, la
téte de idole se trouvoit vraisemblablement élevée de cinq 4 six métres au-
dessus du pavé du temple, de manibre que les prétres (Teopixqui) trainoient
les matheureuses victiines 4 l’autel, en les faisant passer au-dessous do la
figure de Mictlanteuhtli,’

53 According to Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Nouvelles Annales des Vi ,
1858, tom, clx., pp, 267-8: ' Les héros et demi-deux qui, sous le nom génerique
do Chichim)ques-Mixcohuas, jouent un si grand role dans la mythologie mex{-
caine, et qui du vii® au ix® sidcle de notre dre, obtinrent la prépondérance sur
lo plateau aztique....Les plus cflébres de cos héros sont Mixcohuatl-Maza-
tzin (lo Serpent Nébuleux et lo Daim), fordateur de Jn royauté d Tollan (au-
dal hui Tula), ‘Letzcatlipoca, specialenent ador’ & ‘Tetzcuco, et son frore

ixcohuatl le jeune, dit Camaxtii, on parciculior adord & Tlaxcallan, l'un et
l'autre mentionnés, sous d'autres noms, parmi les rois de Culhuacan et con-
nidérés, ainsi que le premier, comme ies principaux fondateurs de la mon-
archie tolttque, On ignore of ils regurent le jour, Un manuserit mexicnin,
(Codex Chitnalpopoca, en les donnaut pour fils d'Iztac-Mixcohuatl ou lo
Serpent Blanc Neébuleux et d'iztac-eChelchiuhlioné ou ly Blanche Dame
naurdéo, fait allégoriqnement allusion aux pays nébulenx et aquatiques oft ils
ont pris naissance; tb méme dooument ajvute qu’ils vinrent par eau et qu’'ils
demeurbrent un certain temps en barque. Peut-étre quo le nom d’ Iztuc ou
Blane, également donn’ d Mixcohuat , Acsigne aussi une race differente do
cello des Indions et plus en rapport aveo la notre,’
4 Brinton’: (iv ithe, p, 158,

a canes

SEE Tae BO een ag eee

404 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

In the fourteenth month, called Quecholli, and begin-
ning, according to Clavigero, cn the fourteenth of Novem-
ber, there was made with many obscure ceremonies, a feast
to this god. On the sixth day of the month all assem-
bled at the cu of Huitzilopochtli, where during four days
they made arrows and darts for use in war and for
general practice at a mark, mortifying at the same time
their flesh by drawing blood, and by abstaining from
women and pulque. This done they made, in honor of
the dead, certain little mimic darts of a hand long, of
which four seem to have been tied together with four
splinters of candle-wood pine; these were put on the
graves, and at set of sun, lit and burned, after which the
ashes were interred on the spot. There were taken a
maize-stalk of nine knots with a paper flag on the top
that hung down to the bottom, together with a shield and
dart belonging to the dead man, and his maxtle and
blanket; the last two being attached to the maize-stalk.
The hanging flag was ornamented on either side with
red cotton thread, in the figure of an X; a piece of
twisted white thread also hung down to which was sus-
pended a dead humming-hird. Handfuls of the white
feathers of the heron were tied two and two and fastened
to the burdened maize-stalk, while all the cotton threads
used were covered with white hen’s feathers, stuck on
with resin, Lastly all these were burned on a stone block
called the guaulixicalcalico.

In the court of the cu of Mixcoatl was svattered much
dried grass brought from the mountains, upon which the
old women-priests, or cioatlamacazque, seated themselves,
each with a mat before her, All the women that had
children came, each bringing her child and five sweet
tamales; and the tamales were put on the mats before
the old women, who in return took the children, tossed
them in their arms and then returned them to their
mothers,

About the middle of the month was made a special
feast to this god of the Otom{s, to Mixcoatl. In the

morning all prepared for a great drive-hunt, girding

their
The
entl
Atlad
man
coyo
one
no a
blank
the he
up fo
The
god
bough
paper
Yzquit
9 rep
(7uts OF
honor
mornir
doomed
they he
round t
calpulco
for the
before |
what g
pipes™
the fla
spindles
dlee Wi
piece: ‘4
for fast
Wiad othe
all these
world al
were car

55 Cafias
Ilist, Gen, te

DRIVE-HUNT OF MIXCOATL. 405.

They wended their way to a mountain-slope, anci-
ently Zapatepec, or Yxillantonan, above the sierra of
Atlacuizoayan, or as it is now called, according to Busta-
mante, Tacubaya. There they drove deer, rabbits, hares,
coyotes, and other game together, little by little, every
one in the meantime killing what he could; few or
no animals escaping. To the most successful hunters
blankets were given, and every one brought to his house
the heads of the animals he had taken, and hanged them
up for tokens of his prowess or activity.

There were human sacrifices in honor of this hunting
god with other deities. The manufacturers of pulque
bought, apparently two slaves who were decorated with
paper and killed in honor of the gods Tlamatzincatl and
Yzquitecatl; there were also sacrificed women supposed
+ represent the wives of these two deities. The calpix-
wis on their part led other two slaves to the death in
nonor of Mixcoatl and of Cohuatlicue his wife. On the
morning of the last day but one of the month, all the
doomed were brought out and led round the cu where
they had to die; after mid-day they were led up the cu,
round the sacrifical block, down again, then back to the
calpulco, to be at once guarded and forced to keep awake
for the night. At midnight their heads were shaven
before the fire, and every one of them burned there
what goods he had, little paper flags, cane tobacco-
pipes® and drinking-vessels; the women threw into
the flame their raiment, their ornaments, their
spindles, little baskets, vessels in which the spin-
dlee were xwirled, warping-frames, fuller’s earth,
pieces of cene for pressing a fabric together, cords
for fastening i¢ up, maguey-thorns, measuring-rods,
and other =:,iements for weaving; and they said that
all these things had to be given to them in the other
world after their death. At daybreak these captives
were carried or assisted up, each having a paper flag

55 Cafias de humo: Kingsborough's Mex. Antig,, vol. vii., p. 75; Sahagun,
Hist, Gen,, tom. 4,, lib, fi, pp. 168, ‘

their blankets to their loins, and taking bows and arrows.:

SS = — ——= =

——-

406 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

borne before him, to the several cues of the gods they
were to die in honor of. Four that had to die, probably
before Mixcoatl, were, each by four bearers, carried up
to a temple, bound hand and foot to represent dead deer;
while others were merely assisted up the steps by a
youth at each arm, so that they should not faint nor fail;
two other youths trailing or letting them down the same
steps after they were dead. ‘I'he preceding relates
only to the male captiv--, the women being slain before
the men, in ‘a separate cu called the coatlan; it is said
that as they were forced up the steps of it some screamed
and others wept. In letting the dead bodies of these
women down the steps again, it is also specially wiitten,
that they wee rot hurled down roughly, but rolled down
little by liti « t the place where the skulls of the
dead were exp: © ., waited two old women called teiwa-
mique, having by them salt water and bread and a mess
or gruel of some kind. The carcasses of the victims
being brought to them, they dipped cane-leaves into the
salt water and sprinkled the faces of them therewith,
and into each mouth they put four morsels of bread
moistened with the gruel or mess above-mentioned.
Then the heads were cut off and spitted on poles; and so
the feast ended.”

In connection with the religious honors paid to the
dead, it may be here said that the Mexicans had a deity
of whom almost all we know is that he was the god of
those that died in the houses of the lords or in the
palaces of the principal men; he was called Macuilxo-

% Kingsborough's Mex. Antig., vol. vii., pp. 73-6; Sahaqun, Mist, Gen., tom.
i., lib. ii., pp. 162-7; Torquemada, Monarg, Ind., tom. ii., pp. 148-9, 151-2,
280-1; Clavivero, Storit Ant, del Messico, tom. ii., p. 79; Miiller, Amerika-
nbvohe Trvelislonen, Pp. 483, 48, and elsewhere. Brasseur, as his custom is,
euhemerizes this god, detailing the events of his reign, and theorizing on
his policy, as soberly and believingly as if it were a question of the reign of
a Loais XIV., or a Napoleon I.; see Hist. Nat. Civ., tom, i., PP. 227-35.
Gomara, Cong, Mew., fol, 88, and others, make Camaxtle, the principal god of
Tlasonla, identical with Mixcoatl. ‘Che Chichimecs ‘had only one god called
Mixcoatl ani they kept this image or statue, They held to another god, in-
visible, without image, called Ivoallichecatl,—that is to say, god invisible and

impalpable, favoring, enetieries all-powerful, by whose power all live, etc.’
gun, Hist, Gen., tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 64,

chit

the
amo
or §
preli
at n

and
occu)
flowe
of th
eithe
and c
the fe
light
sels tl
the id
a ban
bright
wroug
was a
stones,
a hear

57 Thi
mentione
goddess ¢
pe ee r

orough’,
p. 95"

59 Ki
tom. i,, lit
8penks of ;

wee with n
acuilxoc
zal, the A
seur de Bo
donnait go
Teguridée oC
qwelle étaj
levée A ce ¢
gi'une pe
upon sem¢
lequel on
eventail pos
‘* Maouil.X,
between Xox
Goddess of }

MACUILXOUCHITL.

407

chitl, ‘the chief that gives flowers, or that takes care of
the giving of flowers.’" The festival of this god fell
among the movable feasts and was called Xochilhuitl,
or ‘the festival of flowers,’ There were in it the usual
preliminary fasting (that is to say, eating but once a day,
at noon, and then only of a restricted diet), blood-letting,
and offering of food in the temple; though there did not
occur therein anything suggestive either of a god of
flowers or of a god of the more noble dead. The image
of this deity was in the likeness of an almost naked man,
either flayed or painted of a vermilion color; the mouth
and chin were of three tints, white, black, and light blue;
the face was of a light reddish tinge. It had a crown of
light green color, with plumes of the same hue, and tas-
sels that hung down to the shoulders. On the back of
the idol was a device wrought in feathers, representing
a banner planted on a hill; about the loins of it was a
bright reddish blanket, fringed with sea- shells; curiously
wrought sandals adorned its feet; on vhe left arm of it
was a white shield, in the midst of which were set four
stones, joined two and two; it held a sceptre, shaped like
a heart and tipped with green and yellow feathers.”

51 This deity must not, it would seem, be confounded with another
mentioned by Sahagun, viz., Coatlyace, or Contlyate, or Contlantonan, a
goddess of whom we know little save the fact, incidentally mentioned, that
she was regarded with greai devotion by the dealers in flowers. See Kings-
borough's Mew, Antig., vol. vii., p. 42, and Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom, i, lib, ii.,

p. 95,
$8 Hhgeborenahs Mex, Antiq., vol. vii., pp. 10-11, 136; Sahaqun, Hist. Gen.,
tom. i lib. 1, pp. 19-22 lib. iv. p, 906, Boturini, Idea de una Hiet., pp. 4-16,
speaks of a goddess called Macui)xochiquetzalli; by a comparison of the pass-
age with note 28 of this chapter, it will I think be evident that the chevalier's
acuilxochiquetzalli is identical not with Macuilxochitl, but with Xochiquet-
wal, the Aztec Venus, See further, on the relations of this goddess, Bras.
seur de Bourboury, Hist, Nat. Civ,, tom, iii, pp, 490-1: ‘Matlaleudyé, qui
donnait son nom nu versant de la montagne du cété de Tlaxcallan, ¢tait
regurdée comme la protectrice apéciale des magiciennes. La légende disait
qu'elle était devenue I'épouse de Tlaloo, aprés que Xochiquetzal eut ¢té en-
levée A ce dieu [nee this vol, p. 378}. Celle-ci, dont elle n'ctait, aprés tout,
gu ane personnification différente, était appelée aussi Chalchiuhlycué, ou le
upon semé d’émerauden, ensa qualité de déesse des eaux, Le symbole sous
lequel on la représente, comme déesse des amours honnétes, est celui d’un
éventail compost de cing fleura, ce que rend encore le nom qu’on lui donnait
‘*Maouil-Xochiquetzalli."’’ Brasseur, it is to be remembered, distinguishes

between Xochiquetzal as the goddess of honest love, and Tlnzolteotl as the
goddess of lubricity.

408 GODS, SUPERNATCRAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Ome Acatl was the god of banquets and of guests; his
name signified ‘ two canes.’ When a man made a feast
to his friends, he had the image of this deity carried to
his house by certain of its priests; and if the host did
not do this, the deity appeared to him in a dream, re-
buking him in such words as these: Thou bad man, be-
cause thou hast withheld from me my due honor, know
that I will forsake thee and that thou shalt pay dearly
for this insult. When this god was éxcessively angered,
he was accustomed to mix hairs with the food and drink
of the guests of the object of his wrath, so that the giver
of the feast should be disgraced. As in the case of
Huitzilopochtli, there was a kind of communion sacra-
ment in connection with the adoration of this god of
feasts: in each ward dough was taken and kneaded by
the principal men into the figure of a bone of about a
cubit long, called the bone of Ome Acatl. A night seems
to have been spent in eating and in drinking pulque; then
at break of day an unfortunate person, set up as the living
image of the god, had his belly pricked with pins, or
some such articles; being hurt thereby, as we are told.
This done the bone was divided and each one ate what
of it fell to his lot; and when those that had insulted
this god ate, they often grew sick, and almost choked,
and went stumbling and falling. Ome Acatl was repre-
sented as a man seated on a bunch of cyperus-sedges.
His face was painted white and black; upon his head
was & paper crown surrounded by a long and broad fillet
of divers colors, knotted up at the back of the head; and
again round and over the fillet, was wound a string of
chalchiuite beads, His blanket was made like a net, and
had a broad border of flowers woven into it. He bore
a shield, from the lower part of which hung a kind of
fringe of broad tassels, In the right hand he held a
sceptre called the tlachielonique, or ‘looker,’ because it
was furnished with a round plate through which a hole

oa The fire-god Xiuhtecutli used an instrument of thie kind; see this vol.

p.

como
entre |
este ac

IXTLILTON, HEALER OF CHILDREN. 409

was pierced, and the god kept his face covered with the
plate and looked through the hole.®

Yxtliton, or Ixtlilton,—that is to say ‘the little negro,’
according to Sahagun, and ‘the biack-faced,’ according
to Clavigero—was a god who cured children of various
diseases.” His ‘oratory’ was a ‘ind of temporary build-
ing made of painted boards; his image was neither graven
nor painted; it was a living man decorated with certain
vestments. In this temple or oratory were kept many
pans and jars, covered with boards, ard containing a
fluid which was called ‘black water.’ When a child
sickened, it was brought to this temple and one of these
jars was uncovered, upon which the child drank of the
black water and was healed of its disease—the cure being
probably most prompt and complete when the priests as
well as the god knew something of physic. When one
made a feast to this god—which seems to have been
when one made new pulque—the man that was the
image of Ixtlilton came to the house of the feast-giver
with music and dancing, and preceded by the smoke of

60 Kingsborough’s Mex. Antiq., vol. vii., pp. 11-12; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom.
i, lib. i., pp. 22-38; Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., Ep: 58, 240-1; Clavi-
gero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 22; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist.
Nat, Civ., tom. iii., p. 492,

61 This god, who was also known by the title of Tlaltecuin, is the third
Mexican god connected with medicine. There is first that unnamed goddess
described on p, 353, of this vol.; and there is then a certain Tzaputlatena,
described by Sahagun—Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. vii., p. 4; Sahagun,
Hist, Gen., tom, i., lib. i., Pp: 7-8—as the goddess of turpentine (see Brasseur
de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii, p. 404), or of some such sub-
stance, used to cure the itch in the head, irruptions on the skin, sore
throats, chipped feet or lips, and other such see : * Taaputlatena fud una
muger, segiun su nombre, nacida en el pueblo de Tzaputla, y por esto se
Hama la Madre de Tzaputla, porque fué la primera que invento la resina que
se llama uxitl, y es un aceyte sacado por artificio de la resina del pino, que
aprovecha para sanar muchas enfermedades, y primeramente aprovecha con-
tra uns manera de bubas, 6 sarna, que nace en In cabeza, que se llama Quaxo-
cocivistli; y tambien contra otra enfermedad es provechosa asi mismo, que
nace en la cabeza, que es como bubas, que se llama Chaguachicioiztli, y tam-
bien para la sarna de la cabeza. Aprovecha tambien contra la ronguera de la
pargante. Aprovecha tambien contra las grietas de las pies y de los Inbios.

ts tambien contra los empeines que nacen en la cara 6 en Jas manos, Es

tambien contra el uangres contra muchas otras enfermedades es bueno. Y

como esta muger debid ser la primera que halldé este aceyte, contaronla
entre lis Diosas, y hacianla fiesta y sacrificios aquellos que venden y hacen
este aceyte quo se lnma Uxitl.’

410 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

copal incense. The representative of the deity having
arrived, the first thing he did was to eat and drink;
there were more dances and festivities in his honor, in
which he took part, and then he entered the cellar of
the house, where were many jars of pulque that had been
covered for four days with boards or lids of some kind.
He opened one or many of these jars, a ceremony called
‘the opening of the first, or of the new wine,’ and him-
self with those that were with him drank thereof. This
done, he went out into the court-yard of the house,
where there were prepared certain jars of the above-
mentioned black water, which also had been kept covered
four days; these he opened, and if there was found there-
in any dirt, or piece of straw, or hair, or ash, it was
taken as a sign that the giver of the feast was a man of
evil life, an adulterer, or a thief, or a quarrelsome per-
son, and he was affronted with the charge accordingly.
When the representative of the god set out from the
house where all this occurred, he was presented with
certain blankets called yxguen, or ixquen, that is to say,
‘covering of the face,’ because when any fault had been
found in the black water, the giver of the feast was put
to shame.”

Opuchtli, or Opochtli, ‘the left-handed,’ was venerated
by fishermen as their protector and the inventor of their
nets, fish-spears, oars, and other gear. In Cuitlahuac, an
island of lake Chalco, there was a god of fishing called
Amimitl, who, according to Clavigero, differed from the
first-mentioned only in name, Sahagun says that Opuch-
tli was counted among the number of the Tlaloques,
and that the offerings made to him were composed of
pulque, stalks of green maize, flowers, the smoking-canes,
or pipes called piel copal incense, the odorous herb
yiauhtli, and parched maize. These things seem to have
been strewed before him as rushes used to be strewed
before a procession. There were used in these solemni-

62 Kingsborough's Mex. Antig., vol. vii., PP. 12-13; Sahaqun, Hist, Gen.,
tom, i., lib. i., pp. 24-5; Clavigero, Hist, Ant, del Messivo, tom, ii., p, 21.

tom. iii.,

means ‘tl
oroujh's M
While Tor
*Tenian lo
monio Xip
Ind., tom,

accepts all

encore Tot
to the inte
Gallatin gi
Mexicano (\
and Amer, .

OPUCHTLI, GOD OF FISHING. 4i1

ties certain rattles enclosed in hollow walking-sticks,
The image of this god was like a man, almost naked,
with the face of that grey tint seen in quails’ feathers;
on the head was a paper crown of divers colors, made
like a rose, as it were, of leaves overlapping each other,
topped by green feathers issuing from a yellow tassel;
other long tassels hung from this crown to the shoulders
of the idol. Crossed over the breast was a green stole
resembling that worn by the Christian priest when say-
ing mass; on the feet were white sandals; on the /eft
arm was ~ red shield, and in the centre of its field a
white flower with four leaves disposed like a cross; and
in the left hand was a sceptre of a peculiar fashion.®

Xipe, or Totec, or Xipetotec, or Thipetotec, is, accord-
ing to Clavigero, a god whose name has no meaning,”
who was the deity of the goldsmiths, and who was much
venerated by the Mexicans, they being persuaded that
those that neglected his worship would be smitten with

6 ‘Tenia en la mano izquierda una rodela tefiida de colorado, y en el me-
dio de este campo una flor blanca con quatro ojas 4 manera de cruz, y de los
espacios de lus ojas salian quatro puntas que eran tambien ojas de la misma
flor. Tenia un cetro en la mano derecha como un caliz, y de lo alto de él
salia como un casquillo de saetas:’ f.inasborough's Mex. Antig., vol. vii., p. 13;
Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. i., lib. i., , ». 26-7; Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Messi-
co, tom. ii., p. 20; Torque:.ada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., pr 60-1, ‘La péche
avait, toutefois, son génie particulier: c’était Opochtli, le Gaucher, personni-
ec de i ookalcigaenes :' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. des Nat. Civ.,
tom. iii., p. .

Clavigero, Storia. Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 22. This is Ayan a
blunder, however; Boturini explains Totec to mean ‘god our lord,’ and Xi
(or fos a as he writes it) to signify ‘ god of the flaying:’ ‘ Tlawipehualiztli,
Symbolo del primer Mes, quiere decir Deshollamiento de Gentes, porque en sn
primer dia se deshollaban unos Hombres vivos dedicados al Dios Totéuc, esto
es, Dios Sevior nuestro, > al Dios Outs, Dios de el Deshollamiento, syncope de
Tloxipeica:’ Boturini, Idea de una Hist., p.51. Sahagun says that the name
means ‘the flayed one.’ ‘Xipetotec, que quiere decir desollado:’ Kings-
orowyh's Mex. Antiq., vol. vii., pp. 14; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i,, lib. i,, p. 97.
While Torquemada affirms that it means ‘the bald,’ or ‘the blackened one:'
*Tenian los Plateros otro Dios, que se llamaba Xippe, i Yotec,.. Este De-
monio Xippe, que quiere decir, Calvo, 5 Atecado:’ Torguemada, Monarg.
Ind., tom, ie p. 58. Brasseur, Hist. Nat, Civ., tom. fii. p. 503, partiolly
accepts all these derivations: ‘Xipe, le chauve ou I'écorche, autrement dit
encore Totec ou notre seigneur,’ This god was further surnamed, according
to the interpreter of the Vatican Codex, ‘the mournful combatant,’ or, as
Gallatin gives it, ‘the disconsolate;’ see Spiegastone delle Tavole del “ vice
Mexicano (Vaticano), tav. xliii,, in Kingsborough’s Mew, Antig., vol. v., ). 186;
and Amer, Ethnol, Soc,, Transact, vol. i., pp. 345, 350.

412 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

diseases; especially the boils, the itch, and pains of the
head and eyes. They cxcelled themselves therefore in
cruelty at his festival time, occurring ordinarily in the
second month.

Sahagun describes this god as specially honored by
dwellers on the sea-shore, and as having had his origin
at Zapotlan in Jalisco. He was supposed to afflict
people with sore eyes and with various skin-diseases,
such as small-pox, abscesses, and itch. His image was
made like a human form, one side or flank of it being
painted yellow, and the other of a tawny color; down
each side of the face from the brow to the jaw a thin
stripe was wrought; and on the head was a little cap
with hanging tassels, The upper part of the body was
clothed with the flayed skin of a man; round the loins
was girt a kind of green skirt. It had on one arma
yellow shield with a red border, and held in both hands
a scepter shaped like the calix of a poppy and tipped with
an arrow-head.®

On the last day of the second month,—or, accord-
ing to some authors, of the first, —Tlacaxipehualiztli,
there was celebrated a solemn feast in honor at once
of Xipetotec and of Huitzilopochtli. It was preceded
by a very solemn dance at noon of the day before.
As the night of the vigil fell, the captives were shut up
and guarded; at midnight—the time when it was usual
to draw blood from the ears—the hair of the middle of
the head of each was shaven away before a fire. When
the dawn appeared they were led by their owners to the
foot of the stairs of the temple of Huitzilopochtli,—and
if they would not ascend willingly the priests dragged
them up by the hair. The priests threw them down one
by one on the back on a stone of three quarters of a
yard or more high, and square on the top something
more than a foot every way. Two assistants held the
victim down by the feet, two by the hands, and one by
the head—this last according to many accounts putting

63 Kingsborough'’s Mee, Antig., vol. vii., p. 14; manewy Hist, Gen., tom, i.,
lib. i., pp. 27-8; Boturini, Idea de Nueva Hist, +p.

the Heio
coarse al
ground ¢
advanced
ers. The
supine or
blow,

grabbles,
er, anothe
There are
considera|
no more n
was too n
And the XN
ney north
9 See t

EATING THE BODIES OF THE SACRIFICED. 418

a yoke over the neck of the man and so pressing it down.
Then, the priest, holding with both hands a splinter
of flint, or a stone resembling flint, like a large lance-
head, struck across the breast therewith, and tore out the
heart through the gash so made; which, after offering it
to the sun and other gods by holding it up toward the
four quarters of heaven, he threw into a wooden vessel.
The blood was collected also in a vessel and given to the
owner of the dead captive, while the body, thrown down
the temple steps, was taken to the calpule by certain
old men, called guaguacuiltin, flayed, cut into pieces, and
divided for eating; the king receiving the flesh of the
thigh, while the rest of the carcass was eaten at the
house of the owner of the captive, though, as will appear
by a remark hereafter,” it is improbable that the captor
or owner himself ate any of it. With the skin of these
flayed persons, a party of youths called the tofotecli
clothed themselves, and fought in sham fight with an-
other party of young men; prisoners being taken on both
sides, who were not released without a ransom of some
kind or other. This sham battle was succeeded by com-
bats of a terribly real sort, the famous so-called gladia-
torial fights of Mexico. On agreat round stone, like an

66 These human sacrifices were begun, according to Clavigero, Storia Ant.
del Messico, tom. i., pp. 165-7, by the Mexicans, before the foundation of their
city, while yet slaves of the Culhuas, These Mexicans had done good ser-
vice to their rulers in a battle against the Xochimilcas, The masters were
expected to furnish their serfs with a thank-offering for the war god. They
sent a filthy rag and a rotten fowl. The Mexicans received and were silent.
The day of festival came; and with it the Culhua nobles to see the sport—
the Heiots and their vile sacrifice. But the filth did not Appear, only a
coarse altar, wreathed with no fragrant herb, bearing a great flake of keen-
ground obsidian. ‘The dance began, the frenzy mounted up, the priests
advanced to the altar, and with them they dragged four Xochimilca prison-
ers, There is a quick struggle, and over a prisoner bruised, doubled back
supine on the altar-block gleams and falls the itzli, driven with a two-handed
blow, The blood spurts like a recoilinto the bent face of the high priest, who
grabbles, grasps, tears out and flings the heart to the god. Another, anoth-
er, another, and there are four hearts beating in the lap of the grim image.
There are more dances but there is no more sport for the Culhuas: with spe
considerably whitened they return to their place. After this there could be
no more mastership, nor thought of mastership over such a people; there
was too much of the wild beast in them; they had already tasted blood.
And the Mexicans were allowed to leave the land of their bondage, and jour-
ney north toward the future Tenochtitlan,

67 See this vol., p. 415,

414 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

enormous mill-stone, a captive was tied by a cord, pass
ing round his waist and through the hole of the ston
long enough to permit him freedom of motion every-
where about the block—set xcar or at a temple called
yopico, of the god Tutec, or Xipe.* With various cere-
monies, more particularly described in the preceding
volume, the bound man furnished with inferior weapons
was made to fight with a picked Mexican champion—
the latter holding up his sword and shield to the sun
before engaging. If, as sometimes happened, the desper-
ate though hampered and ill-armed captive—whose club-
sword was, by a refinement of mockery, deprived of its
jagged flint edging and set with feathers—slew his oppo-
nent, another champion was sent against him, and so
on to the number of five, at which point, according to
some, the captive was set free; though according to other
authorities, he was not allowed so to escape, but cham-
pions were sent against him till he fell. Upon which a
priest called the yooallaoa opened his breast, tore out his
heart, offered it to the sun, and threw it into the usual
wooden vessel; while the ropes used for binding to the
fighting-stone were carried to the four quarters of

world, reverently with weeping and sighing. A se

priest thrust a piece of cane into the gash in the victim s
breast and held it up stained with blood to the sun.
Then the owner of the captive came and received the
blood into a vessel bordered with feathers; this vessel he
took with a little cane-and-feather broom or aspergillum
and went about all the temples and calpules, giving to each

68 Further notice of this stone appears in Kingsborough’s Mex. Antiq., vol.
vii., p. 94, or Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., ap., pp. 207-8: ‘El sesenta
y dos edificio se lamaba Temalacatl. Era una piedra como muela de moli-
no grande, y estaba agnjereada en el medio como muela de molino. Sobre
esta piedra ponian los esclavos y acuchillabanse con ellos: estaban atados
por medio de tal manera que podian llegar hasta la circumferencia de la
viedra, y dabanles armas con que peleasen. Era este un espectaculo muy
freansnle, y donde concurria gente de todas las comareas i verle. Un satra-
pa vestido de un pellejo de oso 6 Cuetlachtli, era alli el padrino de los cap-
tivos que alli mataban, que los llevaba 4 la piedra y los ataba alli, y los daba
las armas, y los loraba entre tanto que peleaban, y quando caian los en-
tregaba al que les habia de sacar el corazon, que era otro satrapa vestido con
otro pellejo que se Uamaba Tooallaoan. Esta relacion queda escrita en la
fiesta de Tlacaxipeoaliztii.’

armed wit!
most renoy
of eight wi
self. The
never smo!

Y was t
while alive, it had bee
sacrifice,—-and there sk
the house of j

his captor

ead

Great rejoicings,

there assisted nu
and such other diseases ag Xipe in
to be healed of their infirmities, and
were so cured,”

69 Kingsborough’s Mex, Antiq., vol.
tom. i., lib, ii., pp, 51-3, 86-97; BF
pt.i., lam, iii., in Kingsborough’s
delle Tavole del Codice Mexicano (Vaticano), t
quemada, Monarg, Ind., tom, ii., pp, 154, 25:
li., pp. 50-4; rescott's Mex., vol. i.
Messico, tom li., p. 481. We
gladiatorial block
Sacrifice’ ¢

he

n
death, the deat
Stone,

‘ ey
never emoked before the sun.

Remensis,
3 Spiegazione
191; 7%

16 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

The merchants of Mexico—a class of men who hawked
their goods from place to place and wandered often far
into strange countries to buy or sell—had various deities
to whom they did special honor. Among these the
chief, and often the only one mentioned, was the god
Yiacatecutli, or Jacateuctli, or Lyacatecuhtli, that is ‘the
lord that guides,’ otherwise called Yacacoliuhqui, or
Jacacoliuhqui.” This chiéf god of the merchants had,
however, according to Sahagun, five brothers and a sis-
ter, also reverenced by traders, the sister being called
Chalmecacioatl, and the brothers respectively Chiconqui-
avitl, Xomocuil, Nacxitl, Cochimetl, and Yacapitzaoac.
The principal image of this god was a figure represent-
ing a man walking along a road with a staff; the face
black and white; the hair tied up in a bundle on the
middle of the top of the head with two tassels of rich
quetzal-feathers; the ear-rings of gold; the mantle blue,
bordered with a flowered fringe, and covered with a red
net, through whose meshes the blue appeared; round the
ankles leather straps from which hung marine shells;
curiously wrought sandals on the feet; and on the arm
a plain unornamented yellow shield, with a spot of light
blue in the centre of its field. Practically, however,
every merchant reverenced his own stout staff—gener-
ally made of a solid, knotless piece of black cane, called
utatl—as the representative or symbol of this god Yiaca-
tecutli; keeping it, when not in use, in the oratory or
sacred place in his house, and invariably putting food
before it preliminary to eating his own meal. When
traveling the traders were accustomed nightly to stack
up their staves in a convenient position, bind them
about, build a fire before them,” and then offering blood

7 This last name means, Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., p. 57,
being followed, ‘the hook-nosed;’ and it is curious enough that this type of
face, so generally connected with the Hebrew race and through them with
particular astuteness in trade, should be the characteristic of the Mexican
Freoehecabtll, 7 por.oteo nombre #0 lnmad Yecooollatiqui, que quivte decir
Hi que tiene In fats aguilefia, que propriamente reprenstite ersons que
tiene viveca, 6 habilidad, para mofar graciosamente, 6 engafiar, y es sabio, y

saghz wane es propia condicion de yin dag ig
tt Without laying any particular atress on this lighting a fire before Yiaca-

younger
flam (i)
(Yxcocat
los merc
dia desp
como log

NAPATECUTLI.

417

and copal, pray for preservation and shelter from the
many perils to which their wandering life made them
especially subject.”

Napatecutli, that is to say ‘four times lord,’ was the
god of the mat-makers and of all workers in water-flags
and rushes. A beneficent and helpful divinity, and one
of the Tlalocs, he was known by various names, such as
Tepahpaca Teaaltati, ‘the purifier or washer; Quitzetz-
elonua, or Tlaitlanililoni, ‘he that scatters or winnows
down; Tlanempopoloa, ‘he that is large and liberal,’
Teatzelhuia, ‘he that sprinkles with water; and Amo-
tenenqua, ‘he that shows himself grateful.’ This god
had two temples in Mexico and his festival fell in the
thirteenth month, by Clavigero’s reckoning. His image
resembled a black man, the face being spotted with white
and black, with tassels hanging down behind supporting
a green plume of three feathers. Round the loins ard
reaching to the knees was girt a kind of white and black
skirt or petticoat, adorned with little sea-shells. The

tecutli—perhaps here necessary as a camp-fire and probably, at any rate, a
thing Gche belore many other gods - it Tay be neticed that the fire god
seems to be particularly connected with the merchant god and indeed with
the merchants themselves, Describing a certain coming down or arrival of
the gods amon, men, believed to take place in the twelfth Mexican month,
Sahagun—after describing the coming, first of Tezcatlipoca, who, ‘ being a
yo..th, and light and strong, walked fastest,’ and then the coming of all
the rest (their arrival being known to the priests by the marks of their feet
on a little heap of maize flour, specially ag ge for the paspose)~—says that
a day after all the rest of the gods, came the god of fire and the god of the
merchants, together; they being old and unable to walk as fast us their
youn r divine brethern: ‘ El dia siguiente Negaba el dios de los Mercaderes
lamado Yiaiacapitzaoac, 6 Yiacatecutli, i otro Dios Mamado sae fig a
(¥xcocauhqui), 6 Xiveteuctli (Xiuhtecutli), que ¢s el Dios del fuego 4 quien
los mercaderes tienen grande devocion, Estos dos legaban 4 la postre un
dia despues de los otros, porque decian que eran viejos y no andaban tanto
como los otros:’ Kingsborough's Mew. au » Vol, vii, p. 71, or Suhagun, Hist,
Gen., tom. i., lib. ii,, p. 158. See also, for the connection of the fire god
Xiuhtecutli with business, this vol. p. 226; and for the high poanes of the
merchants themselves besides Tezcatlipoca see this vol., p, 228.

18 Kingsborough's Mex, Antiq., vol. vii., PP: 14-16; Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom,
i, lib, i,, pp. 29-33; Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Messico, tom. ii, p. 20, The
Nahuihehecatli, or Nauichecatl, mentioned by the interpreters of the codices,
48 a god honored by the merchants, is either some air god like Suetaaieonts
or, as Sahagun given it, merely the name of a sign: see Spleyas ne delle Ta-
vole Codice Meaioano (Vaticano), tav, xavii., in Aingsborough's Mew. Anita,
vol. Yu, ‘ hd, rae pp. eye! sean os Lene Te wer ‘
am, xii; also, Sahagun, . Gen., tom, i, lib., iv., pp. 304-6, and Xinge-

b's Mew, Antq., vol, vii., pp. 135-6.

Von, III,

418 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

sandals of this idol were white; on its left.arm was a
shield made like the broad leaf of the water-lily, or ne-
nuphar; while the right hand held a sceptre like a
flowering staff, the flowers being of paper; and across
the body, passing under the left arm, was a white scarf,
painted over with bleck flowers.”

The Mexicans had several gods of wine, or rather of
pulque; of these the chief seems to have been Tezcatzon-
cati, otherwise known as Tequechmecaniani ‘the stran-
gler, and as Teatlahuiani ‘the drowner; epithets
suggested by the effects of drunkenness. The companion
deities of this Aztec Dionysus were called as a class by
the somewhat extraordinary name of Centzontotc shtin
or ‘the four hundred rabbits’; Yiaulatecatl, Yzquitecatl,
Acoloa, Thilhoa, Pantecat) (the Patecatl of the interpre-
ters of the codices), Tuitecatl, Papaztac, Tlaltecaiooa,
Ometochtli (often referred to as the principal god of
wine), Tepuztecatl, Chimapalnecatl, were deities of this
class. The principal characteristic of the image of the
Mexican god of drunkenizess was, according to Mendieta
and Motolinia, a kind of vessel carried on the head of
the idol, into which vessel wine was ceremoniously
poured. The feast of this god, like that of the preceding
divinity, fell in the thirteenth month, Tepeilhuitl, and
in his temple in the city of Mexico there served four
hundred consecrated priests, so great was the service
done this everywhere too widely and well known god."

T Kingsborough'’s Mex, Antig., vol. vii., pp. 16-17; Sahaqun, Hist. Gen., tom.
i., lib. i., pp. 38-5; Torquemada, ‘Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 69-60; Clavigero,
wT Ricneromen'y thea aller vai ii, pp. 7, 19, 90, 93; Sahagun, Hist
ngsborough's Mew, Antig., vol. vii., pp. 7, 19, t § n, F

Gen,, tom, i,, lib. i., pp. 14, 30-40, lib. ii., 7 B00 205; Torquemada, Monarq.
{nd., tom. ii., pp. 58, 152, 184, 416; Sptegazione delle Tavole del Vodice Mexicano
(Vaticano), tav, xxxv., and Heplicacton del Codex Telleriano-Remensis, lam.
xvi., in Kingsborough’s Mex. Antig,, vol. v., pp. 141, 182; Gallatin, in Amer.
Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 344, 350; Gomara, Cong. Mea., fol, 87, 315;
Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Measico, tom, ii,, p. 21. ‘Otros tenian figuras doe
hombres; tenian estos en la cabeza’ un mortero en Hagar de mitra, y allf les
echaban vino, por ser el dios del vino,’ Motolinia, Hist, Indios, in Joasbaleeta,
Col, tom, i.,p, 83, ‘Otros con un mortero en la cabeza, y este pareco
gre era el dios del vino, y asf le echaban vinc en aquel como mortero;’ Men-
tela, Hist, Koles,, p. 88.‘ ni, ye 6 Papastay,.. . Bate era uno do los tres
ueblos de donde se sacaban fos esclavos para el sacrificio que se hacia de
fis, al idolo Centsentotochtin, Dion del vino en el mes nombrado Hueipachili, 5

cahut

THE HOUSEHOLD GODS:: 419
The Mexicans had certain household gods called Tepi-
toton, or Tepictoton, ‘the little ones,'—small statues’ of
which kings kept six in their houses, nobles four, and
common folks two. Whether these were a particular
class of deities or merely miniature images of the already
described greater gods it is hard to say. Similar small
idols are said to have adorned streets, cross-roads, fount-
ains and other places of public traffic and resort.”

With these Tepitoton may be said to finish the list of
Mexican gods of any repute or any general notoriety; so
that it seems fit to give here a condensed and arranged
resumé of: all the fixed festivals and celebrations of the
Aztec calendar, with its eighteen months of twenty
days each, and its five supplementary days at the end
of the year. There is some disagreement as to which of
the months the year began with; but it will best suit
our present purpose to follow the arrangement of Saha-
gun, the interpreters of the Codices, Torquemada, and
Olavigero, in which the month variously called Atl-
cahualco, or Quahuitlehua, or Cihuailhuitl, or Xilomana-
litztli, is the first. The name Atichualco, or Atlacoalo,

tepetlhuitl en au templo propio que es el cuadragesimo cuarto edificio de los
que se contenian en la area del mayor, como dice el Dr. Hernandez: ‘* Tem-
plum erat dicatum vini deo, in cujus honorem tres captivos interdiu tamen,
et nonnoctu jugulabant, quorum primum Tepes nuncupabant secundum
toltecatl, tertium vero Papaztac quod fiebat quotanni circa festum Tepeil-
huiltl,”” Apud P. Nieremberg, pag. 144.’ Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt ii.,
p. 35. ‘ Les buveurs et les ivrognes avaient cependant, pare les Aztéquen,
plusieurs divinités particuticres: la principale était Izquitecatl; mais le plus
connu devait dtre Tezcatzoncat!, appelé aussi Tequechmecaniani, ou le Pen-
deur:’ Brasseur de owe Hist, Nat. Clv., tom. iii., p. 498,

1 Torquemada, =r, nd., tom. ii, f 64. Craver Storia Ant, det
Messico, tom. ii., p. 23, These were what the Spaniards called ‘oratorios'
in the housen of the Mexicans, In or before these oratories is people offered
cooked food to such images of the gods as they had there. Every mornin
the good-wife of the house woke up the members of her family and too
care that they made the proper offering, as above, to these deities, Kings-
borough's ‘Mex. Antig., vol. vii., p. 95; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i, lib, *

ap. p. 211.

a It is obviously of little consequence to mythology whether the Mexi-
cans called the month Atleahualco the first or the third month (or, as
Boturini has it, the eighteenth,) so long as we know, with some accuracy,
to what month and day of the month it corresponds in our own Gregorian
calendar, For the complete discussion of this question of the calendar
we refer readera to the preceding volume of this series. Gama was unfor-
tunately unacquainted with the writings of Sahagun, and Bustamante (who

420 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

or Atalcaoplo, means ‘the buying or scarcity of water;’
Quahuitlehua, or Quavitleloa, ‘the sprouting of trees;’
and Xilomanalitztli ‘ the offering of Xilotl (that is heads
of maize, wixich were then presented to the gods to secure
their blessing on the seed time).’ This first month be-
ginning on the second of February according to Sahagun,
the eighteenth according to Gama, and the twenty-
sixth according to Clavigero, was consecrated to Tlaloc
and the other gods of water, and in it great numbers of
children were sacrificed.” In further honor of the Tla-
locs there were also at this time killed many captives on
the gladiatorial stone.

It was the second month, called Tlacaxiphualiztli,”
or ‘the flaying of men,’ that was specially famous for its
gladiatorial sacrifices, sacrifices already described and

rformed to the honor of Xipe, or Xipetotec.”

The third month called Tozoztonth, ‘the lesser fast
or penance,’ was inaugurated by the sacrifice on the
mountains of children to the Tlalocs. Those also that
traded in flowers and were called Sochimanque, or Xo-
chimanqui, made a festival to their goddess, Coatlycue,
or Coatlantona, offering her the first-fruits of the flowers

edited the works both of Gama and Sahagun) remarks in a note to the
writings of the astronomer: ‘ Muchas veces he deplorado, que el sabio Sr. D.
Antonio Leon y Gama no hubiese tenido 4 ls vista para formar esta preciosa
obra los manuscritos del P. Sahagun, gpe he publicado en los ajios de 1829
y 30 en la oficina de D, Alejandro Valdés, y sulo hubiese le{do la obra del P.
Torquemada, disc{pulo de D. Antonio Valeriaio, que lo fué de dicho P. Sa-
hagun; pues ta lectura del texto de éste, que acaso truncd, 6 no entendid
bien, podrian haberle dejado dudas en-hechos muy interesantes 4 esta his-
toria.’ See Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, pt i, pp. 45-89; Kingsborough’s
Mex, Antig., vol. vii., P . 20-34, or Sahagun, His', Gen., tom, i., lib. fi., pp.
49-76; Torquemada, Monargq. Ind., tom. ii, pp. %51-86; Acosta, Hist. de
las Yni., p. 397; Clavigero, Storia Ant, del Mexsivo, tom. ii., pp. 58-84;
HEeplicacion del Codex Telleriano-Remensis, pt i., anc Nptegazione debe Tavole
del Codice Mexicano (Vaticano), tav. lvii-Ixxiv, in Aingsborough's Mea, Antiq.,
vol. v., pp. 129-34, 190-7; Boturini, Idea de wie list, pp. 47-53; Gomara,
Cong. ‘Mec, fol, 204; Miller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, pp. 646-8; Brasseur
(le Bourboury, Hist. Nat, Civ, tom, iii., pp. 502-37; Gallatin, in Amer, Ethno,
Soo., Transact., vol. ip . 67-114,

7 See this vol., pp. 332-4.

78 It is also surnamed Cohuailhuitl, ‘fenst of the snuke:’ see above.

7 'There seems to be some confusion with regard to whother or not there
were gladiatorial sacrifices in each of the firat two months. Sahagun, how-
ever, appenrs to describe sacrifices of this kind, as occurring in both petiods;
those of the first month being in honor of the Tialoos and those of the second
n honor of Xipe. For a description of these rites see this vol. pp. 414-5.

thing:
as we
were |

% Se
aly,

au Mexi
» Na

THE CEREMONIAL CALENDAR. 421

of the year, cf these that had grown in the precincts of
the cu yapico, acu as we have seen, consecrated to Tlaloc.
Into a cave belonging to this temple there were also at
this time cast the now rotten skins of the human beings
that had been flayed in the preceding month. Thither,
e stinking | like dead dogs,” as Sahagun phrases it, marched
in procession the persons that wore these skins and there
they put them off, washing themselves with many cere-
monies; and sick folk troubled with certain skin-diseases
followed and looked on, hoping by the sight of all these
things to be healed of their infirmities. The ownersof the
captives that had been slain had also been doing penance
for twenty days, neither washing nor bathing during
that time; and they now, when they had seen the
skins deposited in the cave, washed and gave a banquet to
all their friends and relatives, performing many cere-
monies with the bones of the dead captives. All the
twenty days of this month singing exercises, praising
the god, were carried on in the houses called Cuicacalli,
the performers not dancing but remaining seated.

The fourth month was called, in contradistinction to
the third, Veitozoztli, or Hueytozoztli, that is to say,
‘the greater penance or letting of blood;’ because in it
not only the priests but also the populace and _ nobility
did penance, drawing blood from their ears, shins, and
other parts of the body, and exposing at their doors
leaves of sword-grass stained therewith. After this they
performed certain already described ceremonies,” and
and then made, out of the dough known as ézoalli™ an
image of the goddess Chicomecoatl, in the court-yard of
her temple, offering before it all kinds of maize, beans,
and chian, because she was the maker and giver of these
things and the sustainer of the people. In this month,
as well as in the three months preceding, little children
were sacrificed, a cruelty which was supposed to please

% See this vol., pp. 960-2.
8 ' Le Trohuallt était un composé de graines 1 ineuses pormeniiives
au Aa ree u'on manger ig diverses maniéres.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg,
Nat, Cio, tom. ii., p. 5

422 GODS, SUPERNATURAL: BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

the water gods, and which was kept up till the rains
began to fall abundantly.

The fifth month, called Toxcatl and sometimes. Tepo-
pochuiliztli,” was begun by the most solemn and famous
feast of the year, in honor of the principal Mexican god,
a god known by a multitude of names and epithets,
among which were Tezcatlipoca, Titlacaoan, Yautl, Tel-
puchtli, and Tlamatzincat]. A year before this feast,
one of the most distinguished of the captives reserved
for sacrifice was chosen out for superior grace and _per-
sonal appearance from among all his fellows, and given
in charge to the priestly functionaries called calpixques.
These instructed him with great diligence in all the arts
pertaining to good breeding, according to the Mexican
idea: such as playing on the flute, walking, speaking,
saluting those he happened to meet, the use and carry-
ing about of straight cane tobacco-pipes and of flowers,
with the dexterous smoking of the one, and the graceful
inhalation of the odor of the other. He was attended
upon by eight pages, who were clad in the livery of
of the palace, and had perfect liberty to go where he
pleased, night and day; while his food was so rich that
to guard against his growing too fat, it. was at times
necessary to vary the diet by a purge of salt and water.
Everywhere honored and adored as the living image
and accredited representative of Tezcatlipoca, he went
about playing on a small shrill clay flute, or fife, and
adorned with rich and curious raiment furnished by
the king, while all he met did him reverence kissing
the earth. All his body and face was painted—black,
it would appear; his long hair flowed to the waist; his
head was covered with white hens’ feathers stuck on

* The name ‘Tepopochuiliztli’ a ‘amoke or vapor.’ As to the
meaning of “Toxcatl’ ¥ writers are kt a Boturini interpreting it to mean
‘ effort,” and Torquemada ‘a slippe luce,’ Acosta, Sahagun, and Gama
agree, however, in accepting it as ran ys thet applied to a atrin ing of parched or
or toasted maize used in ceremonies to be pb to descri tbe, and Acos-
ta further gives as its root signification ‘a dried thing.’ Consult, in addi-
tion to the references given in the note poss the beginning of ag ¢ descriptions
of the feuste, Aconlu, Hist, de las Ynd., ad Fe get eae Antig., vol.
vii., pp. 45-0; Sahagun, Hist, Gen., ton. i, Hib, j » pp 00-11.

‘THE MONTH TOXOATL. 428

with resin, and covered with a garland of the flowers
called yzquisuchitl; while two strings of the same flowers
crossed his body in the fashion of cross-belts. Ear-
rings of gold, a necklace of precious stones with a
great dependent gem hanging to the breast, a lip-orna-
ment (barbote) of sea-shell, bracelets of gold above
the elbow on each arm, and strings of gems called
macuecth winding from wrist almost to elbow, glit-
tered and flashed back the light as the doomed man-
god moved. He was covered with a rich beautifully
fringed mantle of netting, and bore on his shoulders
something like a purse made of white cloth of a span
square, ornamented with tassels and fringe. A white
maxtle of a span broad went about his loins, the two
ends, curiously wrought, falling in front almost to the
knee. Little bells of gold kept time with every motion
of his feet, which were shod with painted sandals called
ocelunacace.

All this was the attire he wore from the beginning
of his year of preparation; but twenty days before the
coming of the festival, they changed his vestments,
washed away the paint or dye from his skin, and cut
down his long hair to the length, and arranged it after
the fashion, of the hair of the captains, tying it up on the
crown of the head with feathers and fringe and two gold-
buttoned tassels, At the same time they married to him
four damsels, who had been pampered and educated for
this purpose, and who were surnamed respectively after
the four goddesses, Xochiquetzal, Xilonen, Atlatonan,
and Vixtocioatl.* Five days before the great day of

® With three of these goddena we are tolerably familiar, knowing them to

be intimately connected with each other and concerned in the production,
eg gt or support of life and of life-giving food, Of At)a'o..on little is
nown, but she seems to belong to the same class, being generally mentioned
in connection with Cinteotl, Her name means, according to Torquemada,
‘she that shines in the water.’ ‘Otra Capilla, 6 Templo avia, que se llamaba
Xiuhcalco, dedicado al Dios Cinteutl, en cuia fiesta sacrificaban dos Varones
Esclavos, } una Muger, & loa qnales ponian el nombre de su Dios, Al vno
Mamaban Iztaccinteutl, Dios Tlatlauhquicinteutl, Dios de las Mieses encen-
didas, > coloradas; y A la Muger Atlantona, que quiere decir, que resplan-
dece en el Agua, A la qual desollaban, cuio vallejo y ouero, ve vestin vn
Sacerdote, luego que acababa el Sacrificio, que era de noche.’ Torguemada,

Sn cn

ee ee a

‘494 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

the feast,“ the day of the feast being counted one, all
the people, high and low, the king it would appear being
alone excepted, went out to celebrate with the man-god
a solemn banquet and dance, in the ward called Tecan-
man; the fourth day before the feast, the same was done
in the ward in which was guarded the statue of Tezcat-
lipoca. The little hill, or island, called Tepetzinco, ris-
ing out of the waters of the lake of Mexico, was the
scene of the next day’s solemnities; solemnities renewed
for the last time on the next day, or that immediately
preceding the great day, on another like island called
Tepelpulco, or Tepepulco. There, with the four women
that had been given him for his consolation, the hon-
ored victim was put into a covered canoe usually re-
served for the sole use of the king; and he was carried
across the lake to a place called Tlapitzaoayan, near
the road that goes from Yztapalapan to Chalco, at a

Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., p. 155; see also, Kingsborough's Mex, Antig., vol. vii.,
p. 94; or Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii,, ap., p. 209,

& Acosta, Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 382-3, gives an account of various other
ceremonies which took place ten days before the great feast day, which ac-
count has been followed by Torquemada, Clavigero, and later writers, and
which we reproduce from the quaint but in this case at least full and accurate
translation of E.G.,—n translation which, however, makes this chapter the
29th of the fifth book instead of the 28th as in the original: ‘Then came forth
one of the chiefe of the temple, attired like to the idoll, carrying flowers in
his hand, and a flute of earth, having a very sharpe sound, and turning to-
wards the east, he sounded it, and then looking to the west, north and south
he did the like. And after he had thus sounded towards the foure parts of the
world (shewing that both they that were present and absent did heare him)
hee put his finger into the aire, and then gathered vp earth, which he put in
his mouth, anc did eate it in signe of adoration. The like did all they that
were present, and weeping, they fell flat to the ground, invocating the dark-
nease of the night, and the windes, intreating them not to leave them, nor to
forget them, or else to take away their lives, and free them from the labors
they indured therein, Theeves, adulterers, and murtherers, and all others
offendors had great feare and heavinesse, whilest this flute sounded; so as
some could not dissemble nor hide their offences. By this meanes they all
demanded no other thing of their god, but to have their offences concealed,
powring foorth many teares, with great repentaunce and sorrow, offering great
store of incense to pppesss their gods. The couragious and valiant men,
and all the olde souldiers, that followed the Arte of Warre, hearing this flute,
demaunded with great devotion of God the Creator, of the Lorde for whome
wee live, of the sunne, and of other their gods, that they would give them
viotorie againat their ennemies, and strength to take many captives, -herewith
so honour their sacrifices. This ceremonie was doone ten dayes before the
feast: During which tenne dayes the Priest did sound this flute, to the end
that all might do this worship in eating of earth, anit demaund of their idol
what they pleased: they every day male their praiera, with their eyes lift vp
to heaven, and with sighs and groanings, as men that were grieved for their
sinnes and offences.’

little |
the tc
blood.
of woc
and te

THE FEAST OF TOXCATL. 425

place where was a little hill called Acacuilpan, or
Cabaltepec. Here left him the four beautiful girls,
whose society for twenty days he had enjoyed, they
returning to the capital with all the people; there ac-
companying the hero of this terrible tragedy only those
eight attendants that had been with him all the year.
Almost alone, done with the joys of beauty, banquet,
and dance, bearing a bundle of his flutes, he walked to
a little ill-built cu, some distance from the road men-
tioned above, and about a league removed from the city.
He marched up the temple steps, not dragged, not
bound, not carried like a common slave or captive; and
as he ascended he dashed down and broke on every
step one of the flutes that he had been accustomed to
play on in the days of his prosperity. He reached the
top ;—by sickening repetition we have learned to know the
rest; one thing only, from the sacrificial stone his body
was not hurled down the steps, but was carried by four
men down to the Tzompantli, to the place of the spitting
of heads.

And the chroniclers say that all this signified that
those who enjoyed riches, delights in this life, should at
the end come to poverty and sorrow—so determined are
these same chroniclers to let nothing escape without its
moral.

In this feast of Toxcatl, in the cu called Huitznahuac,
where the image of Huitzilopochtli was always kept, the
priests made a bust of this god out of tzoalli dough, with
pieces of mizquitl-wood inserted by way of bones. They
decorated it with his ornaments; putting on a jacket
wrought over with human bones, a mantle of very thin
nequen, and another mantle called the taquaquallo,
covered with rich feathers, fitting the head below and
widening out above; in the middle of this stood up a
little rod, also decorated with feathers and sticking into
the top of the rod was a flint knife half covered with
blood. The image was set on a platform made of pieces
of wood resembling snakes and so arranged that heads
and tails alternated all the way round; the whole borne

426 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

by many: captains and men of war. Before this image
and platform a number of strong youths carried an
enormous sheet of paper resembling pasteboard, twenty
fathoms long, one fathom broad, and a little less than an
inch thick; it was supported by spear-shafts arranged in
pairs of one shaft above and one below the paper, while
persons on either side of the paper held each one of
these pairs in one hand. When the procession, with
dancing and singing, reached the cu to be ascended, the
snaky platform was carefully and cautiously hoisted up
by cords attached to its four corners, the image was set
on a seat, and those that carried the paper rolled it up
and set down the roll before the bust of the god. It was
sunset when the image was so set up; and the following
morning every one offered food in his own house before
the image of Huitzilopochtli there, incensing also such
images of other gods as he had, and then went to offer
quails’ blood before the bust set up on the cu. The king
began, wringing off the heads of four quails; the priests
offered next, then all the people; the whole multitude
carrying clay fire-pans and burning copal incense of
every kind, after which every one threw his live coals upon
a great hearth in the temple-yard. The virgins painted
their faces, put on their heads garlands of parched maize
with strings of the same across their breasts, decorated
their arms and legs with red feathers, and carried black
paper flags stuck into split canes. The flags of the
daughters of nobles were not of paper but of a thin cloth
called canaoac, painted with vertical black stripes. These
girls joining hands danced round the great hearth, upon
or over which on an elevated place of some kind there
danced, giving the time and step, two men, having each
a kind of pine cage covered with paper flags on his
shoulders, the strap supporting which passed, not across
the forehead,—the usual way for men to carry a burden,
—-but across the chest as was the fashion with women.
The priests of the temple, dancing on this occasion with
the women, bore shields of paper, crumpled up like great
flowers; their heads were adorned with white feathers,

;
|
)
t
)
‘
y
>
e
n
r
B
8
e
f

DEATH OF THE YXTEUCALLI. 427

their lips and part of the face were smeared with sugar-
cane juice which produced a peculiar effect over the black
with which their faces were always painted. They
carried in their hands pieces of paper called amasmaath,
and sceptres of palm-wood tipped with a black flower
and having in the lower part a ball of black feathers.
In dancing they used this sceptre like a staff, and the
part by which they grasped it was wrapped round with
& paper painted with black lines. The music for the
dancers was supplied by a party of unseen musicians,
who occupied one of the temple buildings, where they sat,
he that played on the drum in the centre, and the per-
formers on the other instruments about him. The men
and women danced on till night, but the strictest order
and decency were preserved, and any lewd word or
look brought down swift punishment from the ap-
pointed overseers.

This feast was closed by the death of a youth who
had been during the past year dedicated to and taken
care of for Huitzilopochtli, resembling in this the vic-
tim of Tezcatlipoca, whose companion he had indeed
been, but without receiving such high honors. This
Huitzilopochtli youth was entitled Yxteucalli, or Tla-
cabepan, or Teicauhtzin, and was held to be the image
and representative of the god. When the day of his
death came, the priests decorated him with papers
painted over with black circles, and put a mitre of
eagles’ feathers on his head, in the midst of whose
plumes was stuck a flint knife, stained half way up
with blood and adorned with red feathers. Tied to his
shon!dcrs, by strings passing across the breast, was a
piece of very thin cloth about a span square, and over
it hung a little bag. Over one of his arms was thrown
a wild beast’s skin, arranged somewhat like a maniple;
bells of gold jingled at his legs as he walked or danced.
There were two peculiar things connected with the
death of this youth; first he had absolute liberty of
choice regarding the hour in which he was to die; and
second, he was not extended upon any block or altar,

428

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

but when he wished he threw himself into the arms of
the priests, and had his heart so cut out. His head
was then hacked off and spitted alongside of that of
the Tezcatlipoca youth, of whom we have spoken al-
ready. In this same day the priests made little marks
on children, cutting them, with thin stone knives, in
the breast, stomach, wrists, and fleshy part of the arms;
marks, as the Spanish priests considered, by which the
devil should know his own sheep.® The ceremonies of
the ensuing monthly festivals have already been de-
scribed at length.”

There were, besides, a number of movable feasts in
honor of the higher gods, the celestial bodies, and the
patron deities of the various trades and professions.
Sahagun gives an account of sixteen movable feasts,
many of which, however, contained no religious ele-
ment.” The first was dedicated to the sun, to whom a
ghostly deputation of eighteen souls was sent to make
known the wants of the people, and implore future
favors. The selected victims were ranged in order at
the place of sacrifice, and addressed by the priest, who
exhorted them to bear in mind the sacred nature of
their mission, and the glory hich would be theirs
upon its proper fulfillment. The music now strikes up;
amid the crash and din the victims one after another
are stretched upon the altar; a few flashes of the iztli-
knife in the practiced hand of the slayer, and the em-
bassy has set out for the presence of the sun.®

The sixth, seventh, and eleventh festivais were cele-
brated to Quetzalcoatl, Yezcatlipoca, and Huitzilopochtli
respectively. The public and household idols of these

8 Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., Pp. 100-11; Torquemada, Monarg.
Ind., tom. ii., pp, 263-6; " Clavigero igero, Storia Ant, del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 70-3.
% For the month Etzalqu liztli, see this volume, pp. 334- 43; for the
mnths Tecuilhuitzintli, Hueytecuilhuitl, and Tiaxochimaco, see vol. ii. of
this wore pp. 225-8; for Xocotlhuetzin and Ochpaniztli, this volum -, pp.
385-9, 354-9; for Teotleco, vol. ii., pp. 332-4; tig, Tepeilhuitl, Q) ch: Pan-

uetzaliztli, ‘and Atemoztli, this volume, 343-6, 404-6 ~ 5, 323-4,
ey for Tititl, big’ ii., PP. 337-8; for teal, this ve p. 390-3,
81 Hist. Gen., lib i., pp. 194-7, 216. There a ,er scattered

notices of these sarvebls fensts, which will be referred to a» -©y appear
88 Las Casas, Hist. Apolosé tica, MS., cap. clxxvi.

seizing
gradua
bolted
Ever
and at
the fea
the fast
number
series of}
solemn
which t
expirati
istence,°
tom,
according t

a8 drawing
$53 wer

val of the 80d of fire, the thirteenth of the movable
feasts, various public officials were elected, and a great
many grand banquets given. The atamalqualizth, or
‘fi d

the gods by neglecting to observe this fast were thought
to expose themselves to an attack of leprosy, The
people indulged in all sorts of amusements during the
oliday season Which succeeded the fast. The most
interesting feature of’ the festivities was a bal masqué,

the fasts more Severe, and the Sacrifices far greater in
number than Upon ordinary Occasions,” The entire
Series of festivals may be said to have closed with the
solemn Toxilmolpilia, or ‘binding up of the years,’
which took place every fifty-two years, and marked the
expiration and renewal of the World's lease of ex-
istence,”
gine tS tar Ta Aleaico, in Naat ng days of the year were,
according to Gomura, Cong. Mez., fol, 331, devoted to reli

a8 drawing of blood

alse

ue
a
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ul
et
mil
il
Hitt
|

CHAPTER X.

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Revenves oF THE Mexroan TemPLes—VaAsT NUMBER OF THE PrirstTs—MeExt-
vax Sacerpotan System—Patixeresses—Tur Onpers or Tramaxcicay-
OTL aND TELPOCHTILIZTLE — Reviarious Drvorers—Barrism—Cracun-
CIsion — CoMMUNION —- Fasts AND Penance — Bioop-pnawine — Human
Sacririces--TuHE Gone or THR Tarascos—Parixsts anp Tempie Sre-
vices or MrcHoacaNn--WorsHip IN Jattsco AND Oasaca—VoTAN AND

Querzarcoatt—Travets or Voran—Txe ApostL= Wixerrcocna—Cave

wean Xusty.AHUACA—THE Parinoses Prnopraa—\, ORSHIP OF CosTAHUN-

rox--Tree WorsHiP.

We have seen in the preceding volume that the num-
ber of religious edifices was very great; that in addition
to the temples in the cities—and Mexico alone is said
to have contained two thousand sacred buildings—there
were “on every isolated hill, along the roads, and in
the fields, substantial structures consecrated to some
deity.” Torquemada estimates the whole number at
eigaty thousand.

The vast revenues needed for the support and repair
of the temples, and for the maintenance of the immense
army of priests that officiated in them, were derived
from various sources. ‘The greatest part was supplied
from large tracts of land which were the property. of
the church, and were held by vassals under certain.
conditions, or worked by slaves, Besides this, taxes of
wine and | grain, especially first fruits, were levied upon

(490)

serva
meni
were
ber o
imme
not a)
ment
for th
ever, |

= == =. we

TEMPLE REVENUES,

481
stored in &ranaries: attached to the
untary contributiong, from ® cake

for the computation,

It should be
ver, that the sacerdo

+e VO
fo, con lo Misme, a last
nada, Monarg, Ind, tom, fi., p, 164,
Compans, V; ') Bérie ti, to

. ”% to tt: ¢

‘s ORli, * BR da crederai, che quel tratto
rra degli Dej

008) a lata, per
, Claijero, Storia Ant, del Teevi ey
Cong, Mez., fol, 190,

continually
’ atever

We accept

| 4 I
Y Was not composed entirely , i

Tetzoven Servian, con
vine Pueblos
Casas Neales,

» Om. v., p, 905
PP. 164-6; Zag tases,

i‘ i
Hist, Apo. ij
i pnese, i

432 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

of permanent members; some were merely engaged for
a certain number of years, in fulfillment of a vow made
by themselves or their parents; others were obliged to
attend at intervals only, or at certain festivals, the rest
of their time being passed in the pursuit of some pro-
fession, usually that of arms.°

The vast number of the priests, their enormous wealth,
and the blind zeal of the people, all combined to render
the sacerdotal power extremely formidable. The king
himself performed the functions of high-priest on cer-
tain occasions, and frequently held some sacred office
before succeeding to the throne. The heads of Church
and State seem to have worked amicably together, and
te have united their power to keep the masses in sub-
jection. The sovereign took no step of importance
without first consulting the high-priests to learn whether
the gods were favorable to the project. The people were
guided in the same manner by the inferior ministers, and

this influence was not likely to decrease, for the priests
as the possessors of all learning, the historians and poets

of the nation, were intrusted with the education of
the youth, whom they took care to mold to their
purposes.

At the head of the Mexican priesthood were two
supreme ministers; the Teotecuhtli or ‘divine lord,’
who seems to have attended more particularly to secular
matters, and the Hueiteopixqui, who chiefly superin-
tended religious affairs. ‘These ministers were elected,
ostensibly from among the priests most distinguished in
point of birth, piety, and learning; but as the king and
principal nobles were the electors, the preference was
doubtless given to those who were most devoted to their
interests, or to members of the royal family. They

5 Sahagun, Mist, Gen., tom. {., lib. ii, p. 112; Clavigero, Storia Ant, del
Measico, tom. ii., pp. 36-7,

6 Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom, il., pp. 175-7; Clavigero, Storia An’
del Messivo, tom. ii., p. 87. Suahagun calls them Quetzalcoatl Teotextlama-
cazqui, who was also high-priest of Huitailopochtli, and Tlaloctlamacazqui,
who was Tloloc's chief priest; they were equala, and elected from the most

erfect, without reference to birth. Hist. Wen., tom, i, lib, iii., pp. 276-7.
‘here are two inconsistencies in this, tho only strong contradiction of the
atatement of the above, as well as several other authors, who form the au-

MEXICAN PRIESTHOOD. 483

were distinguished by a tuft of cotton, falling down
upon the breast. Their robes of ceremony varied with
the nature of the god whose festival they celebrated.
In Tezcuco and Tlacopan, the pontifical dignity was
always conferred upon the second son of the king. The
Totonacs elected their pontiff from among the six chief
priests, who seem to have risen from the ranks of the
Centeotl monks; the ointment used at his consecration
was composed partly of children’s blood. High as was
ua high-priest’s rank, he was not by any means ex-
empt from punishment; in Ichatlan, for instance, where
he was elected by his fellow-priests, if he violated his
vow of celibacy he was cut in pieces, and the bloody
limbs were given as a warning to his successor.’

Next in rank to the two Mexican high-priests was
the Mexicatlteohuatzin, who was appointed by them,
and seems to have been a kind of Vicar General. His
duties were to see that the worship of the gods was prop-
erly observed throughout the kingdom, and to supervise
the priesthood, monasteries, and schools. His badge of
office was a bag of incense of peculiar shape. Two
coadjutors assisted him in the discharge of his duties;
the Huitzuahuacteohuatzin, who acted in his place when
necessary, and the Tepanteohuatzin, who attended
chiefly to the schools.® Conquered provinces retained
thority of my text: first, Sahagun calls the first high-priest Quetzalcoatl
Teotectlamacazqui, a name which scarcely accords h the title of Huitzi-
lopochtli’s high-priest; secondly, he ignores the almost unanimous evidence
of old writers, who state that the latter office was hereditary in a certain
istrict, ‘AlSummo Pont\fice llamaban en la lengua mexicana Tehuatecolt,’
Las Casas, Hist, Apologética, MS., cap. cxxxiii. ‘El mayor de todos que es
superlado, Achoauhtli.’ Gomara, Cong, Mew., fol. 323. But this was the title
of the 'Tlascaltec high-priest. ‘A los supremos Sacerdotes....llamauan en
su antigua lengua Papas,’ Acosta, Hist, de las Ynd., p. 386, See also Cha-
ves, Rapport, in Ternaue-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. v., pp. 308-4,

1 Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., pp. 177,1 80; Clavigero, Storia Ant.
del } heiloo, tom, ii., pai; Herrera, Hist, Gen,, deo. iii,, lib, iii., cap, xv.;
Tas Casas, Hist, Apologétioa, MS., cap. oxxxiii.

8 Sahaqun, Hist, Gen., tom. i., lib. ii, pr. 218-19, Brasseur de Bour-

bourg, Hist. Nat, Civ., tom. iii, Pp. 640-51, whose chief authority is Her-
nandeg, and who is not very clear in his description, holds that the Mexi-

catiteohuatain was the pupreme riest, and that he also bore the title of

Teoteouhtli, the rank of chief priest of Huitzilopochtli, and was the right

hand minister of the king. Quetzalcontl's high-priost he places next in

rank, but outside of the political sphere. On one page he states that the

high-prieat, wae elected by the two chief men in the hierarchy, and on un-
OL. .

434 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

control over their own religious affairs.” Among other
dignitaries of the church may be mentioned the Topil-
tzin, who held the hereditary office of sacrificer, in
which he was aided by five assistants;” the Tlalqui-
miloltecuhtli, keeper of relics and ornaments; the Ome-
tochtli, composer of hymns; the Tlapixcatzin, musical
director; the Hpcoaquacuiltzin, master of ceremonies;
the treasurer; the master of temple properties; and a
number of leaders of special celebrations. Besides these,
every ward, or parish, had its rector, who performed
divine service in the temple, assisted by a number of in-
ferior priests and school-children. The nobles kept pri-
vate chaplains to attend to the worship of the household
gods, which everyone was required to have in his dwell-
ing." The statement of some writers indicate that the
body of priests attached to the service of each god, was
to a certain extent independent, and governed by its
own rules. ‘Thus in some wards the service of Huitzi-
lopochtli was hereditary, and held in higher estimation
than any other.

other he distinct!) implies that the king mado the higher appointments in
order to control the church. The sacrificing priest, whom he evicentl
holds to be the same as the high-priest, he invests with the rank of gencral-
issimo, and heir to the throne.

® Carbnjal states that a temple bearing the name of the people, or their
chief town, was erected in the metropolis, and attended by a body of priests
brought from tho bpruvenee: Discurso, p. 110. This may, however, be a mis-
interpretation of Torquemada, who gives a description of a building attached
to the chief temple at Mexico, in which the idols of subjugated people were
od Enpreone , to prevent them from aiding their worshipers to regain
their liberty.

10 Home authors seem to associate this office with that of the pontiff, but
it appears that the high-priest merely inaugurated the sacrifices on special
occasions, ‘Era esta vna dignidad suprema, y entre ellos tenida en mucho,
la qual se heredaua como cosa de mayorazgo, El ministro que tenia oficio
de matar ...era tenido y reuerenciado como supreme Saverdote, o Pontifice.’
Acosta, Hist, de las Ynd., p. 352. ‘Era como decir, of Sumo Sacerdote, al
qual, y no & otro, era dado este oficio de abrir los Hombres por los pechos,
...-Hiendo comunmente los herederos, de este Patrimonio, y suerte Eclesi-
astica, lus primogenitos.’ A bi vere: Ind., tom. ii., p. 17, It is
difficult to decide upon the interpretation of those sentences, The expres-
sion of his being ‘held or reverenced as pontiff’ certainly indicates that an-
other priest held the office, ao does the sentence, ‘it was inherited by the
first-born ' of certain families, But the phrase, ‘el Sumo Sacerdote, al qual
Ag A otro, era dado este oficio,’ points very directly to the high-priest as

@ holder of the post.
ul da, beat Ind, tom, ii., pp. 178-8; Clavigero, Storia Ant.
del Messivo, tom. ti., pp. 37-0; Sahagun, » Gen., tom. i., lib, ii., pp. 21s-
26; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist, Nat. Ctv., tom, ili.,, p. 661,

blac
hua
whic
knee
man
was
to ol
feet.
mixt
with
ponds
closu
sacrifi
a mix
poiso
soot,
compo
bites, :
Sac
males
exclud
manne
school
vestals,
sacred |
meat o
vestme)
violated
divided
18 Goma
de algodon
al hombro.
negro las
9 Clavi;
las Ynd., p
the ointme
that a prep
applied to {
p. 558, By
custoin of

Hades, Bo
Bee vc

MEXICAN PRIESTESSES, 485

The distinguishing dress of the ordinary priests was a
black cotton cloth, from five to six feet square, which
hug from the back of the head like a veil. Their hair,
which was never cut and frequently reached to the
knees, was painted black and braided with cord; during
many of their long fasts it was left unwashed, and it
was a rule with some of the more ascetic orders never
to cleanse their heads.” Reed sandals protected their
feet. They frequently dyed their bodies with a black
mixture made of ocotl-ront, and painted themselves
with ochre and cinnabar. They bathed every night in
ponds set apart for the purpose within the temple en-
closure. When they went out into the mountains to
sacrifice, or do penance, they anointed their bodies with
a mixture called ¢eopatli, which consisted of the ashes of
poisonous insects, snakes, and worms, mixed with ocotl-
soot, tobacco, vloliuhqui, and sacred water. This filthy
compound was supposed to be a safeguard against snake-
bites, and the attack of wild beasts.”

Sacred offices were not occupied by males only; fe-
maies held positions in the temples, though they were
excluded from the sacrifical and higher offices. The
manner in which they were dedicated to the temple
school has been already described.“ Like the Roman
vestals, their chief duty seems to have been to tend the
sacred fires, though they were also required to place the
meat offerings upon the altar, and to make sacerdotal
vestments. The punishment inflicted upon those who
violated their vow of chastity was death. They were
divided into watches, and during the performance of

18 Gomara, Cong, Mew., fol. 323-4. He describes the dress as ‘vna i
de algodon blanca estrecha, y larga, ag gg vnea manta por capa aiuda

al hombro.,,.'Tiznaunse los dios fes'
negro las Lenape ete,

13 Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., Pp. 39-40; Acosta, Hist, de
las Ynd., pp. 369-71. Brasseur de Bourbourg thinks that the teopatli was
the ointment used at the consecration of the high-priest, but it is not likely
that o Fok a which served monks and invalids as body paint, would be
applied to the heads and of high-priesta and kings. Hist, Nat, Civ., tom, iii,
p. 558. Every priestly adornment had, doubtless, its mystic meaning, The
custom of pa nting the body black was first done in honor of the god of
Hades. Boturint, Idea, p, 117,

' Bee vol, ii., pp. 242, et weq,

uales, y quando su regla mandaua doe

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

486

their duties were required to keep at a proper distance
from the male assistants, at whom they did not even dare
to glance.”

Of the several religious orders the most renowned for
its sanctity was the Tlamaxcacayotl, which was conse-
crated to the service of Quetzalcoatl. The superior of
this order, who was named after the god, never deigned
to issue from his seclusion except to confer with the king.
Its members, called tlamacaxqui, led a very ascetic life,
living on coarse fare, dressing in simple black robes,’*
and performing al] manner of hard work. They bathed
at midnight, and kept watch until an hour or two before
dawn, singing hymns to Quetzalcoatl; on occasions some
of them would retire into the desert to lead a life of
prayer and penance in solitude. Children dedicated to
this order were distinguished by a collar called yanuati,
which they wore till their fourth year, the earliest age
at which they were admitted as novices. The females
who joined these orders were not necessarily virgins, for
it seems that married women were admitted.”

The order of Telpochtiliztli, ‘congregation of young
men,’ was composed of youths who lived with their pa-
rents, but met at sunset in a house set apart for them,
to dance and chant hymns in honor of their patron god,
Tezcatlipoca. Females also attended these meetings,
and, according to report, strict decorum was maintained,
at least while the services lasted.”

Acosta makes mention of certain ascetics who dedi-
cated pea for a year to the most austere life;

15 fe fonarg. Ind., tom. il., Pp. 189-91; Sahagun, Hist. (en.,
tom. mS Pp ena, Motolinia, His Indios, in Icazbaloeta, Col. de
Doc., "pp. 04 ‘Sustentibanse del trabajo de sus manos 6 por sus
gpa ai Mendieta, Hist. Keles., p. 107.

16s Bian en jas cabecas coronas como frayles, poco cabello, aunque

crezido hasta medina oreja, y mas largo por el colodrillo hasta las espaldas, y
a manera de trengado le ebuan,” Herrera, Hist. Gen., deo. iii,, lib. ii, cap.

i7 Olavigero asserts that at the age of two the boy was consecrated to the
order of tlamacazca: nN re a a a . breast, and at seven he was admitted.
Storia Ant, del M 4; Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta,
Col. de Doc., tom, i

18 Torquemada, ‘ake Ini., tom. fi., pp. 220-4, Whether this decorum
was preserved after the sy of the meeting, is a point which some
writers are inclined to dou!

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20 Hist, '

t Las Cc
90,

2 Tas 01
Ind., tom, i

RELIGIOUS DEVOTEES. 487

thcy assisted the priests at the hours of incensing, and
drew much blood from their bodies in sacrifice. They
dressed in white robes and lived by begging.” Camargo
refers to a similar class of penitents in Tlascala, who
called themselves tlamaceuhque, and sought to obtain
divine favor by passing from temple to temple at night,
carrying pans of fire upon their heads; this they kept
up for a yeer or two, during which time they led a very
strict life.” The Totonacs had a very strict sect, limited
in number, devoted to Centeotl, to which none were
admitted but widowers of irreproachable character, who
had passed the age of sixty. It was they who made
the historical and other paintings from which the high-
priest drew his discourses. They were much respected
by the people, and were applied to by all classes for ad-
vice, which they gave gravely, squatted upon their
haunches and with lowered eyes. They dressed in
skins, and ate no meat.”

The children, who were all required, says Las Casas,
to attend school between the ages of six and nine, ren-
dered valuable assistance to the priests by performing
the minor duties about the temple. Those of the lower
school performed much of the outside labor, such as
carrying wood and drawing water, while the sons of the
nobility were assigned higher tasks in the interior of
the building.”

The daily routine of temple duties was performed by
bodies of priests, who relieved each other at intervals
of a few hours or days. The service, which chiefly
consisted of hymn-chanting and incense-burning, was
performed four times each day, at dawn, noon, sunset,
and midnight. At the midnight service the priests
drew blood from their bodies and bathed themselves.
The sun received offerings of quails four times during

19 Hist, de las Ynd., pp. 341-2.
% Hist, Tiaw., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom, xcix., pp. 134-5.
&t Las Casas, Hist, Apologétioca, MS., cap. cxxxii.; Mendieta, Hist, Heles., y.

Tas Casas, Hist, A tica, MS., cap. oxxxix.; Torquemada, Monary,
tom. ii., pp. 185-6,

"ge
Ind,

438 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

the day, and five times during the night.* The priests
of Quetzalcoatl sounded the hours of these watches
with shell-trumpets and drums. Thrice every morning
the Totonac pontiff wafted incense toward the sun;
after which the elder priests, who followed him in a
file, according to rank, waved their censers three times
before the principal idols, and once before the others;
finally, incense was burned in honor of the pontiff
himself. The copal that remained was distributed in
heaps upon the various altars. Later in the day, the
high-priest delivered a lecture before the priests and
and nobles.“ Their prayers were standard composi-
tions, learned by rote at school ;” while reciting them,
they assumed a squatting posture,” usually with the
face toward the east; on occasions of great solemnity
they prostrated themselves. A test was sometimes ap-
plied to ascertain whether the deity was disposed to
respond to the prayers of the nation, when offered for
a particular purpose. This was done by sprinkling
snuff upon the altar, and if, shortly afterwards, the
foot-print of an animal, particularly that of’ an eagle,
was found impressed in the snuff, it was regarded as a
mark of divine favor, and great was the shouting when
the priest announced the augury.”

Many rites and ceremonies were found to exist,

® Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 39. According to Torque-
mada, the night service was partly devoted to the god of night. Monarq.

Ind., tom, ii. p. a
ogetica,

* Hist. A MS., cap. elxxv.; Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii.,
. 224-5, 275; Acosta, Hist.

)') las Ynd., pp. 336, 343; Herrera, Hist. Gen.,
ec. iii., lib. ii., cap. xv.

% This was the answer given by Juan de Tovar, in his Hist. Ind., MS.,
to the doubts by nae by Acosta as to the authenticity of the long-winded
prayers of the Mexicans, whose imperfect writing was not well adapted to
reproduce orations. Helps’ Span. Congq., vol. i., dr, 282.

% Mendieta, Hist. Kcles., p. 93. Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom.
ii., p. 24, certainly says: ‘Taceano le loro pesaniece comunemente inginoc-
chione,’ but we are told by Sahagun and others, that when they approached
the deity with most humility, ener at the confession, a squatting position
wus assumed; the same waa done when they delivered orations, The great-
est sign of adoration, according to Camargo, was to take n handful of earth
and grass and eat it; very similar to the manner of taking an oath or greet-
ing a superior, which consisted in touching the hand to the gronnd and then
putting it to the lips. Hist. Tlaw., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1848, tom.
zolx., z 168,

its
the
the
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bap
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8 At
unbroke:

BAPTISM AND CIRCUMCISION, 439

the old

ey saw that life was

t a man’s suffering

&y were peculiarly apt to regard

every misfortune ag a isitation of the offended
gods, whose an

n the main-stay of
rists who have attempted to prove
i ded from-the Jews;
Y be proved to be
a Islanders, the
any Mohammedan

» or do no

* At the present dey

unbroken line from China to the 0

440 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

probably a symbolic renunciation of the lusts of the
flesh ;” but, as it would be difficult to find a more li-
centious race than the American, this supposition is
unsatisfactory. After sll, why need we grope amors
the recesses of an obscure cult for the meaning and
origin of a custom which may have had no religious

ideas connected with it? We know that several of the.

nations of the old world practiced circumcision merely
for purposes of cleanliness and convenience, why not
also the Americans?

A rite, analogous in -»me aspects to the Christian
communion, was observed on certain occasions. Thus,
in the fifteenth month, a dough statue of Huitzilo-
pochtli was broken up and distributed among the men;
this ceremony was called teoqualo, meaning ‘the god is
eaten.’ At other times, sacred cakes of amaranth-seeds
and honey, were stuck upon maguey-thorns and dis-
tributed. Mendieta states that tobacco was eaten in
honor of Cihuacoatl. The Totonacs made a dough of
first-fruits from the temple garden, wl, and the blood
of three infants sacrificed at « certain festival; of this
the men above twenty-five years of age, and the women
above sixteen, partook every six months; as the dough
became stale, it was moistened with the heart's blood of
ordinary victims.” The rite of confession has been
already described.”

Fasting was observed as an atonement for sin, as well
as @ preparation for solemn festivals. An ordinary fast
consisted in abstaining from meat for a period of from
one to ten days, and taking but one meal a day, at
noon; at no other how might so much as a drop of
water be touched. In the ‘divine year’ a fast of eighty
days was: observed. Some of the fasts held by the
priests lasted one hundred and sixty days, and, owing
to the insufficient food allowed and terrible mutilations

® Myths, p. 147.

30 Teeunoda, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 83; Mendieta, Hist. Eoles., op.
108-9; Las Casas, Hist. Apolog ética, MS., ‘cap. elxxv, ; Ezplicacion del C
Telleriano-Remensis, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. V v., p. 133,

31 See this volume, pp.

Codex
gre yt
costur

FASTS AND PENANCE. 441

practiced, these long feasts not unfrequently resulted
fatally to the devotees. The high-priest sometimes set
a shining example to his subordinates by going into the
mountains and there passing several months, in perfect
solitude, praying, burning incense, drawing blood from
his body, and supporting life upon uncooked maize.”

In Teotihuacan, four priests undertook a four years’
penance, which, if strictly observed, entitled them to be
regarded as saints forever after. A thin mantle and a
breech-clout were all the dress allowed them, no matter
what the weather might be; the bare ground was their
only bread, a stone their softest pillow; their noonday
and only meal was a two-ounce cake, and a small bowl
of porridge made of meal and honey, except on the
first of each month, when they were allowed to take
part in the general banquets. Two of them watched
every alternate night, drawing blood and praying.
Every twentieth day they passed twenty sticks through
the upper part of the ear; and these, Gomara solemnly
assures us, were allowed to accumulate from month to
month, so that at the end of the four years, the ear
held four thousand three hundred and twenty sticks,
which were burned in honor of the gods at the expira-
tion of the time of penance.”

Blood-drawing was the favorite and most common
mode of expiating sin and showing devotion. Chaves
says that the people of Meztitlan drew blood every five
days, staining pieces of paper with it, and offering them
to the god.* The instruments used in ordinary scarifi-
cation were maguey-thorns, which were offered to the
idol, and afterwards burned, but for more severe dis-

32 Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., PP. 212-13; Acosta, Hist. de las

Ynd., p. 343; Sahajun, t. Gen., tom. i., lib. iii., pp. 275-6.

33 Cong. Mex., fol. 336, Some of these sticks were thicker than a finger,
‘y largos, como el tamaiio de vn brago.’ ‘Eran en numero de goss en-
tas.’ Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., Pp: 102-3; Motolinia, Hist. Indios,
in Icazbalceta, Col. de Doc., tom. i., pp. 51-2.

4 Rapport, in Ternauz-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. v., p. 305. The
Mexican priests performed this sacrifice every five days. Sieg of the
Codex Vatioanus, in Kingsboroujh's Mex, Antig., vol. vi., p. 225, ‘De la san-
gre “jue sacaban de las partes del Cuerpo en cada provincia tenian diferente
costumbre,’ Las Vasas, Hist, Apologétiva, MS., cap. clxx.

442 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

cipline iztli knives were used, and cords or sticks were

passed through the tongue, ears, or genitals.

The offering most acceptable to the Nahua divinities
was human life, and without this no festival of any
importance was complete. The origin of the rite of
human sacrifice, as connected with sun-worship at least,
dates back to the earliest times. It is mentioned in the
story of the first appearance of the sun to the Mexicans,
which relates how that luninary refused to proceed
upon its daily circuit until appeased by the sacrifice of
certain heroes who had offended it.“ Some affirm that
human sacrifice was first introduced by Tezcatlipuca;
others again say that it was practiced before Quetzal-
coatl’s time, which is likely enough, if, as we are told,
that prophet not only preached against it as an abomi-
nation, but shut his ears with both hands when it was
even mentioned. Written, or painted, records show its
existence in 1091, though some native writers assert
that it was not practiced until after this date. The
nations that encompass the Aztecs ascribe the intro-
duction of humen sacrifice to the latter people; a state-
ment accepted by most of the early historians, who
relate that the first human victims were four Xochi-
milcos, with whose blood the newly erected altar of
Huitzilopochtli was consecrated.”

___ The number of human victims sacrificed annually in
Mexico is not exactly known. Las Casas, the champion
of the natives, places it at an insignificantly low figure.

while Zumérraga states that twenty thousand were sacri-

35 See this volume. p. 61.
36 Clavigero, Storia Pint, del Messico, tom. i., pp. 165-7. Torquemada,
however, mentions one earlier sacrifice of some refractory Mexicans, who
desired to leave their wandering countrymen and a La He contrary to
the command of the ae Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., +r 50. ‘On pré-
ns one ‘de Tlaxcallan.’

ume, p. 278. Miller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, p. 628, thinks that the Az-
tecs introduced certain rites bo human sacrifice, which ‘they connected with
others already existing in Mexico,

HUMAN SAORIFICES. 443

ficed in the capital alone every year. That the number
was immense we can readily believe, when we read in Tor-
quemada, Ixtlilxochitl, Boturini, and Acosta, that from
seventy to eighty thousand human beings were slaugh-
tered at the inauguration of the temple of Huitzilopochtli,
and a provortionately large number at the other celebra-
tions of the kind.”

The victims were mostly captives of war, and for the
sole purpose of obtaining these wars were often made; a
large proportion of the sacrificed, however, were of
slaves and children, either bought or presented for the
purpose, and condemned criminals. Moreover, instances
are not wanting of devout people offering themselves
voluntarily for the good of the people and the honor of
the god. The greater part of the victims died under
the knife, in the manner so often described;” some,
however, were, as we have seen in the preceding
volume, burned alive; children were often buried, or
immured alive, or drowned; in some cases criminals
were crushed between stones. The Tlascaltecs frequently
bound the doomed one to a pole and made his body a
target for their spears and arrows.

It is difficult to determine what religious ideas were
connected with the almost universal practice of anthro-
pophagy. We have seen that several of the savage
tribes ate portions of slain heroes, thinking thereby to
inherit a portion of the dead man’s good qualities; the
same reason might be assigned for the cannibelism of
the Aztecs, were it not for the fact that they ate the
fles: of sacrificed slaves and children as well as that of

37 Torquemada, Monirg. Ind., tom. i., p. 186. ‘Eran cada aiio estos
Nifios sacrificados mas de veinte mil por cuenta.’ [d., tom. ii., P: 120. A
misconstruction of Zumirraga, who does not specify them as children. Cla-
vigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 49, tom. i., p. 257; Iatlileochil,
Hist. Chich., in Kingsborough’s Mex. Antig., vol. ix., p. 268; Boturini, Idea, —
B: 28. ‘Afirman que auia vez que uan de cinco mil, y dia vuo que en

iuersas partes fueron assi sacrificados mas de veynta mil.’ Acosta, Hist. de
tas Ynd., p. 356. Gomara states that the conquerors counted 136,000 skulls

in one skull-yard alone. Cong. Mezx., fol. 122.
38 ‘Non furono mai veduti i Messicani sacriticare i propj lor Nazionali, se

non coloro, che per li loro delitti erano rei di morte.’ Clavigero, Storia Ant.
, tom. iv., e; 299. A rather hasty assertion.
39 See vol. ii., p. 307.

444 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP,

warriors and notable persons. Whatever may have
been the original significance of the rite, it is most prob-
able that finally the body, the essence cf which served
to regale the god, was regarded merely as the remains
of a divine feast, and, therefore, as sacred food. It is
quite possible, however, that religious anthropophagy
gradualiy degenerated into an unnatural appetite for
human flesii aad nothing more.

I here close the review of the Aztec gods. Like most
of its branches, this great centre -f North American
mythology rests on natural phenomena and anthopo-
morphic creations, with an occasional euemeristic devel-
opment or apotheosis, but is attended by a worship so
sanguinary and monstrous that it stands out an isolated
spectacle of the extreme to which fanatical zeal and
blind superstition can go. A glance at the Greek and
Roman mythology is sufficient to show how much purer
was the Nahua conception of divine character. The
Nahua gods did not, like those of Greece, play with
vice, but rather abhorred it. ‘Tezcatlipoca is the only
deity that can be fairly compared with the fitful Zeus of
Homer,—now moved with extreme passion, now gov-
erned by a noble impulse, now swayed by brutal lust,
now drawn on by a vein of humor. But the polished
Greek, poetic, refined, full of ideas, exulting in his
strong, beautiful, immoral gods, and making his art im-
mortal by his sublime representations of them, presents
a picture very different from the Aztec, phlegmatic,
bloody-minded, ferocious, broken in body and in spirit
by the excesses of his worship, overshadowed by count-
less terrors of the imagination, quaking continually
before gods who feast on his flesh and blood. Meverthe-
less there was one bright spot, set afar off on the horizon,
upon which the Aztec might look and ay Like the
Brahmans, the Buddhists, and the Jews, he looked for-

ward to a new era under a great leader, even Quetzal-
coatl, who had promised to return from the glowing
east, bringing with him all the prosperity, peace, and

ee eee ee ee ee ee

— Swe

WORSHIP IN MICHOACAN. 445

happiness of his former reign. The Totonacs, also,
knew of one in heaven who pleaded unceasingly for them
with the great god, and who was ultimately to bring
about a gentler era.

Worship in Michoacan, though on a smaller scale, was
very similar to that in Mexico. The misty form of a
Supreme Being that hovers through the latter, here
assumes a more distinct outline, however. <A First
Cause, a Crestor of All, a Ruler of the World, who
bestows existence, and regulates the seasons, is re-
cognized in the god Tucapacha; an invisible being
whose abode is in the heaven above, an_ inconceiva-
ble being whom no image can represent, a merciful
being to whom the people may hopefully pray.“ But
the very beauty and simplicity of the conception of
this god seem to have operated against the popularity
of his worship. The people needed a less shadowy per-
sonification of their ideas. and this they found in Curi-
caneri, originally the patron divinity of the Chichimec
rulers of the country, and by them exalted over Xara-
tanga, the foriner head god of the Tarascos. Brasseur
de Bourbourg thinks Curicaneri to be identical with the
sun, and gives as his reason that the Chichimees pre-
sented their offerings first to that luminary and then to
the inferior deities. There is another point that seems
to favor this view. The insignia of Curicaneri and
Xaratanga were carried by the priests in the van of
the army to inspire courage and confidence of vic-
tory. Before sev’ing out on the march a fire was
lighted before the idol, and as the incense rose to
heaven, tiie priest addressed the god of fire, imploring
him to accept the offering and favor the expedition.”
The image of Curicaneri was profusely adorned with
jewels, each one of which represented a human sacrifice
made in honor of the god.

Tr w+ aan Hist, Cong. Mex., p. 71; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec, iii,
i cup, X

Brasseur de Bourhourg, Hist, m~ Civ., tom. iii, pp. 79-82, This au-
thor gives the name as Curioaweri

446 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

The goddess Xaratanga, though second in rank, seems
to have occupied the first place in the affections of the
Tarascos, in spite of the myth which associates her
name with the downfall of the native dynasty, saying
that she transformed their princes into snakes, because
they appeared drunk at her festivals, and thus afforded
the Chichimecs an opportunity to seize the sceptre.
The priests did their utmost, besides, to maintain her
prestige, and they were successful, as we have seen from
the position of the goddess by the side of Curicaneri, in
the van of the army.

Among the inferior gods were Manovapa, son of
Xaratanga, and Taras, from whom, says Sahagun,
the Tarascos took their mame, and who corresponded
to the Mexican Mixcoatl, The Matlaltzincas wor-
shiped Coltzin, suffocating before his image the few
human beings offered to him. They reverenced very
highly, also, a great reformer, Surites, a high-priest,
who preached morality, and, inspired by a prophetic
spirit, is said to have prepared the people for a better
faith, which was to come from the direction of the
rising sun. The festivals of the Peranseuaro, which
corresponded to our Christmas, and the Zitacuarencuaro,
or ‘resurrection,’ were instituted by Surites. These
ideas, however, bear traces of having been ‘improved
by the padres.

The priests of Michoacan exercised even a greater in-
fluence over the people than those of Mexico. In order

to retain this power they appealed to the religious side .

of the people’s character by thundering sermons and
solemn rites, and to their affections by practicing charity
at every opportunity, The king himself, when he paid
his annual visit to the high-priest to inaugurate the offer-
ing of first-fruits, set an example of humility by kneel-
ing before the pontiff and reverently kissing his hand
The priests of Michoacan formed a distinct class, com-
pe of three orders, at the head of which stood the
high priest of Curicaneri.” Those who served the god-

o ‘El Sumo Bacerdote Curinacanery.’ Beaumont, Crén, Mechoacon, MB.,

p.

can, Mt
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133, me

WORSHIP IN JALISCO. 447

dess Xaratanga were called watarecha, and were dis-
tinguished by their shaven crowns, long black hair, and
tunics bordered with red fringe.” Marriage was one of
their privileges.

The temple-service of Michoacan was much the same
as in Mexico. Human sacrifices, which seem to have
been introduced at a late period, were probably very
numerous, since hundreds of human victims were im-
molated at the funeral of a monarch. The hearts of the
sacrificed were eaten by the priests, says Beaumont, and
this is not unlikely since the Otomi population of Micho-
acan sold flesh in the public market. During seasons
of drought the Otomis sought to propitiate the rain gods
by sacrificing a virgin on the top of a hill.“

In Jalisco, several forms of worship appear, each with
its special divinities. These were mostly genii of natu-
ral features. Thus, the towns about Chapala paid divine
honors to the spirit of the lake, who was represented by
a mis-shapen image with a miniature lake before it.
The people of other places had idols mounted on rocks,
or represented in the act of fighting with a wild animal
or s#onster. In Zentipac and Acaponeta the stars were
honored with offerings of the choicest fruit and flowers,
Equally innocent were the offerings brought to Piltzin-
teolli, the ‘child god,’ whose youthful form was reared
in several places, An instance of apotheosis occurred
in Nayarit, where the skeleton of a king, enthroned in a
cave, received divine honors.

Among the temples consecrated to the various idols,
may be mentioned one in Jalisco, which was a square
pyramid, decorated with breast-work and turrets, to

~ «anette de fiuecos colorados,’ says Herrera, Mist, Gen., dee, iii,,
. lii,, cap, x,

“4 nee, Hist, Gen,, dec, iii,, lib. iii,, oap. x.; Beaumont, Crén Mechoa-
can, MS., pp. 52-3, 75; Alegre, Hist, Comp. de Jesus, tom. i., pp. 91-2; Bras.
seur de Bourbourg, Hist, Nat, Civ., tom, iit, p. 59, 64-5, 70-82; Torquemada,
Monarg, Jnd,, tom, ii., p. 585; Carbajal Eapinosa, Hist, Mew., tom. i., pp.
201-2, thinks that the sacrifices were ietrodieed by surrounding tribes, and
that cannibalism was unknown to the Tarascos, ‘Sacrificaban culebras,
aves y conejos, y no los hombres, aunque fuesen cautivos, porque se ser-
vian de ellos, como de eselavos,’ Sahagun, //ist. Gen., tom, iii,, lib, x., p.
133, See alvo vol, ii., pp. 620-1, of this work,

448 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

which access was had by a staircase sixty feet in height,
At each of the four corners was a hearth so arranged that
the smoke from the sacred fire spread in a dense cloud
over the temple. Another, at Teul, consisted of a stone
building, five fathoms in length, by three in breadth,
and gradually widening towards the top. Two entrances,
one at the north corner, the other at the south, each
with five steps, gave admission to the interior; close by
were several piles, formed of the bones of the sacrificed.
The festivals which took place seem to have been dis-
graced not only by excesses of the most infamous charac-
ter, but by the most horrible cruelties, if we are to
believe Oviedo, who writes of furnaces filled with charred
human remains. These sacrifices, however, if sacrifices
they were, which were common in the north-eastern
parts, where intercourse with Mexico had produced
many changes, do not appear as we advance southward.
Not only do they entirely vanish, but the chroniclers
state that in Colima, which was reputed to have been
at one time governed by a very wise prince, no outward
worship of any kind could be found; moreover, they
hint at an atheism having existed there, restricted only
by moral precepts. But the reality of an oasis of this
character, in the midst of the most degraded superstitions
and the wildest fanaticism, is at the least, doubtful, and
the work of the Fathers seems to be once more apparent.”
The worship of Oajaca bore even a stronger resem-
blance to that of Mexico than did that of Michoacan, and
the assertion of some modern writers that both nations
have a common origin seems fully borne out by the
records of the old chroniclers. The array of gods was,
if possible, greater, for almost every feature of the grand,
wild scenery, every want, every virtue, even every vice,
45 Beaumont, Crén, Mechoacan, MS., p. 232, tells of a Supreme Bein
in heaven, and with him an ever young virgin from whom all men descend;
a belief which the child-god is said to have promulgated; but the account
seems somewhat confused both as to place and authority. Alegre, Hist, Comp.
de Jesus, tom, iii, p. 197, and Padilla, Cong. N, Galicia, M8., p. 8, men-
tion additional gods, but give no description, Villa-Sefior y eo Thea-
tro, tom. ii., pp. 269-70; Alcedo, Dicctonario, tom, iii., p. 299; Tello, in ous.

baleeta, Col. de Doe,, tom. ti, p. 363; Oviedo, Hist .» tom, iii., p, 666;
Gil, in Soc, Mea, Geog, Boletin, tom, viii,, pp. 496-8.

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esprit étendu
_ “ Torquer
tion of Tolte
. 8° Vina es
tenia labrado
ircibs & baxo
transp irente,
pti., fol. 166,

Vou,

450 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

the original myth, how much of its beautiful significance
gone! Burgoa invests the relic with another attribute
in making it the supporter of tae earth, another Atlas in
fact, whose movements produce earthquakes. This also
accords with the character of Quetzalcoatl, who, under the
name of Huemac, was supposed to produce earthquakes.
The Zapotecs, besides, prayed to it for victory and wealth,
and Quetzalcoatl as the ‘ peace god,’ could doubtless in-
fluence the former, while the latter gift was always in his
power.” In several other places were ido!. «ith the
same name, as at Yangiiistlan, Chalcatongo, and Coatlan,
where the temples were caves, a fact worthy of note
when we consider that Quetzalcoatl is stated by the
myth to have erected temples to Mictlantecutli, the
Mexican Pluto.”

The few authors, however, who have referred to this
relic, nearly all hold it to represent Votan; the old
writers doubtless because the name signifies ‘heart’ ™
in the Tzendal dialect of Chiapas, where he was the
most prominent deity, the modern, because its attributes
accord with those of this god. But Votan has so much
in common with Quetzalcoatl that some writers are in-
clined to consider them identical, or at least related.
Miiller, however, declares him to be an original Maya
snake-god, one of the thirteen chief snakes, to whom the
bird attribute was given at a late period, borrowed, per-
haps, from Quetzalcoatl. He is gradually anthropomor-
phized into one of the many leaders whose names have
been given to the days of the month, Votan taking the
third of the four names that designated days as well as
years, Yet Professor Miiller concedes that the god was

49 Burgon gives the relic in this instance n title which varies somewhat in
the wording, although the former sense remains: ‘El Almn, y coracgon del
Reyno.’ Geog. Descrip., tom, ii., pt ii., fol. 396, Davila Padilla, Hist, Pend.
Mex., p. 63), mentions an idol among the Zapotecs in shape of a hand,
which may have represented Huemac,

%® The Zapotecs had other temples also, fashioned like those of Mexico in
superimposed terraces of stone-cased earth. Burgon describes one which
measured 2000 paces in circumference, and rose to n height of 88-90 feet:
on each terrace stood an adobe chapel with a well attached forthe storage of
water, On the occasion of a great victory another terrace was added to the

pile. Geog. Desorip., tom. i., pt ii., fol. 108.
St Cabrera, Teatro, in Rio's Description, p. 37,

VOTAN AND QUETZALCOATL. 451

brought from Cholula, and that certain special attributes
of Quetzalcoatl may be recognized in the figures on the
Palenque ruins, which probably refer to Votan; and fur-
ther, that a phase of the myth seems to point to him as
the grandson of Quetzalcoatl.” Brasseur de Bourbourg,
while accepting his identity with the ‘heart of the peo-
ple,’ considers that the double aspect of the tradition
allows us to suppose that there were several Votans, or
that this name was accorded to deserving men who came
after him. At times he seems to be a mythic creation,
the mediator between man and God, the representation
of wisdom and power; at times a prince and legislator
who introduced a higher culture among his people. The
analogy presented by traditions between Votan, Gucu-
matz, Cukulcan, and Quetzalcoatl, would lead us to believe
that one individual united in his person all these appel-
lations. Nevertheless, a comparison of the different tra-
ditions admits of two, Votan and Quetzalcoatl, the other
names having the same signification as the latter.

It is certain, however, that from them, whether heroes,
priests, rulers, or warriors, Central America received
the culture which their successors brought to such per-
fection. Tne knowledge of one supreme being appears
to have been among the first dogmas instilled into the
minds of their people; but in the tradition presented to
us, the hero's name is often confounded with that of the
divinities.” Like Quetzalcoatl, Votan was the first histo-
rian of his people, and wrote a book on the origin of the
race, in which he declares himself a snake, a descendant
of Imos, of the line of Chan, of the race of Chivim.”

88 He ~ calls him the Miztec Cultur god. Amerikanische Urreligionen,
486-

pp. .
53 Hist. Nat, Clv., tom. i., pp. 44-5.
™ Ohan, ‘snake,’ was the name of a tribe of Lacandones, near Palen-
gre, known also as Colhuas, Chanes, or Quinames. Brasseur de Bourbourg,
‘opol Vuh, be 109, The book referred to or a copy of it, written in the

‘Tzendal or hé language, was in the possession of Nuiiez de la Vega,
Bishop of C 8, who published short extracts of it in his Constitut. Dia-
ces, but seems to have had it burned, together with other native relics, in
1691, at Huehuetan. Previous:to this, however, Ordofez y Aguiar had ob-
tained « copy of it. written in Latin characters, and gave a résumé of the
contents in his Mist. det Cielo, MS. This author contradicts himself by stat-
ing, in one part of his MS., that the original was written by a descendant

See ee ee

—

ST

MS oy Bes SSS
ee

= Se
a = eee

452 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

One of his titles was ‘lord of the hollow tree,’ the tepa-
huaste, or teponaztli.”

From the confused tradition of the Tzendals, as ren-
dered by Nufiez de la Vega and Ordoiiez y Aguiar, it
seems that Votan, proceeded by divine command to
America and there portioned out the land.” He accord-
ingly departed from Valum Chivim, passed by the ‘dwel-
ling of the thirteen snakes,’ and arrived in Valum Vo-
tan,” where he took with him several of his family to
form the nucleus of the settlement. With them he
passed through the island-strewn Laguna de Terminos,
ascended the Usumacinta, and here, on one of its tribu-
taries founded Nachan,® or Palenque, the future metrop-
olis of a mighty kingdom, and one of the reputed cra-
dies of American civiiization. The Tzendal inhabitants
bestowed upon the strange-looking new-comers the name
Tzequiles, ‘men with petticoats,’ on account of their long

of Votan. Brasseur de payrvowrg, Slope! Vuh, Pp. Ixxxvii., cviii.; Tschudi’s
Peruvian Antiq., p. 12; Cabrera, Teatro, in Rio's Descrip., pp. 33-4. Cabrera,
who bases his account of the myth on Ordojfiez’ rendering, which he at times
seems to have misunderstood and mutilated, thinks that Chivim refers to
Tripoli, and it is the same as Hivim or Givim, the Phanician word for
anake, which, again, refers to Hivites, the descendants of Heth, son of
Canaan. Votan’s expression, as given in his book, ‘I am a snake, a Chivim,’
signifies ‘I am a Hivite from Tripoli.’ Teatro, in Rio's nie B 34, et seq.

55 Boturini, Idea, p. 115, It may be of interest to compare his name wit
Odon in the Michoacan calendar, and Oton, the Otomf god and chief.
Humboldt was particularly struck with its resemblance to Odin, the Scan-
ag os god-hero, Vues, tom. i., p. 208; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh,
p. Ixxvi.

% Equivalent to laying the foundation for civilization. According to Or-
dojiez he was sent to peuple the continent; a view also taken by Clavigero,
Storia Ant, del Messico, tm. i., pp. 150-1. Torquemada’s account of the
spreading of the Toltecs sunthward, may throw some light on this subject.

mye. Ind., tom. ip 256, et seq.

57 Valum Chivim, Valum Votan, land of Chivim and Votan, See note 15.
Onabrera considers two marble columns found at Tangier, with Phuwnician
inscriptions, n trace of his route; the ewer ne of the thirteen snakes are
thirteen islands of the Canary group, and Valum Votan, the Island of
Santo Domingo. Teatro, in Riv's Descrip., P: 34, et seq. Miller, Amerika-
nische Urreligionen, p. 489, hints signi Boant ly at the worship of the snake-
god Votan, on Santo Domingo Island, under the name of Vaudoux. Brasseur

e Bourbourg's ideas on this point have already been made pretty evident
in the account of Quetzalcoatl's myth, The thirteen snakes may mean thir-
teen chiefs of Xibalba. There is a ruin bearing the name of Valum Votan
about nine leagues from Ciudad Real, Chiapas. Popol Vuh, p. Ixxxvili, Or-
dufiez holds Valum Votan to be Cuba, whence he takes seven families with
him, Cabrera, ubi WH
8 Ordofiez says the original Na-chan means ‘place of snakes.’ Brasseur

» Hist, Nat, Civ,, tom, i., p. (9.

pp. Ht} , 34,

tepa-

} ren-
ar, it
id to
cord-
lwel-
. Vo-
ly to
4
inos,
ribu-
Lrop-
cra-
‘ants
ame
long

hudi’s
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times
rs to
a for
pn of
vim,’
t seq.
wit!

thief.
Soan-
Vuh,

> Or-
ero,
the
ject,

e 15,
icin
‘are
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ria.
ake-
sour
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thir.
otan

Or.
with

seur

TRAVELS oF VOTAN.

robes, but soon exchanged ideas and customs with them,

submitted to their rule, and gave them their daughters

In marriage, hig event is laid a thousand years before
Christ,”

Ordofiez proceeds to say that Vo
ment of his government, made fou

458

an edifice which had

eaven, an object defeated by & confusion of tongues;
nally he was allowed to penetrate by a subterranean
passage to the root of heaven.” Qn returning to Palen.

que, Votan found that several more of his nations had

“rrived; these he recognized as snakes, and showed them
many favors, in return for which hi

the Chimal ove MS, rasseur de Bour.
» Ixxxviij, One tradi ne es the T;

B
uh, tion m zequiles speak a
Nahua d alect, bub it is possible that Ordofiex Confounds two epocs, Id.,
Hist, Nat, Civ., tom, - 70,

ted on pp, 67-8, 50, of thiy volume, will be
found reference to Cholula as the place where ‘the tower of Babel was built,
which tends to Connect this myth with
of the nej hboring country, Ord odox ideas have Probably added
muck to the native MS, from which he took his account, yet ie de In

Rome, but Agrees with hig authorities

ce is the tower of Bubel, A zendal legend relates that

@, leading from Palenque to Tulhé, near Ococingo, was

constructed in commemoration of the celestial Passage, or ‘serpent hole,’

into which Votan in his qnality of anake, was admitted, Brasgeyy de Bour.

» ©tv., tom. i, pp, 2-3,

Cabrera has it that the newcomers sre seven Tzequiles, or ahi wrecked

‘ © voyages and other incidents he cousiders con.

the sculptnres on the Palenque ruins, which shows Votan sur.

rounded by symboly of travel, in places visited in the uld and
new world; he recognizes the Attributes of Osiris in the idol brough

Votan, with the intention of establishing ity

orship in the new world,
say, Yotan and his families are Carthaginians, Teatro, in Rio's Description
bp. 95, 34,

404 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

male members, Here were also kept a number of tapirs,
a sacred animal among the people.

The claims of Votan to be considered as the ‘heart of the
people,’ are supported, according to the above accounts,
chiefly by his name, which means ‘heart,’ and by the fact
that a chalchiuite, of which stone the relic was made, was

laced by the Mexicans and other peoples between the
ips of deceased. The other attributes accord more with
the character of Quetzalcoatl, as we have seen, and the
tradition is very similar; its confusion goes to show that
it is a mutilated version of the Toltec myth. If we
accept Votan as a grandson of Quetzalcoatl we may also
suppose that he was one of the disciples sent out by the
prophet to spread his doctrines, and that his own name

as been substituted for that of his master. This view
is favored by the fact that Quetzalcoatl is identified with
the snake-heroes of Yucatan and Guatemala, countries
that lie beside and beyond Chiapas. Then, again, we
find that Votan’s worship was known in Cholula, and
that he landed in the very region where the former hero
disappeared. However doubtful the preceding tradition
may be, there is one among the Oajacans, which to me

has all the appearance of a mutilated version of the ch
myth of Quetzalcoatl, deformed still more by the ortho- of
dox Fathers, In very remote times, about the era of th
the apostles, according to the padres, an old white man, ati
with long hair and beard, appeared suddenly at Huatul- no
co, coming from the south-west by sea, and preached to th
the natives in their own tongue, but of things beyond de
their understanding. He lived a strict life, passing the be:
greater part of the night in a kneeling posture, and eat- wi
ing but little. He disappeared shortly after as mysteri- tat
ously as he had come, but left as a memento of his visit
(
(2 The ruins of Huebuetan, ‘city of old men,’ are still to be seen. Bras- was
orf ieeieae te geese hea eee cae aq
Teopixea ‘in Chiapas he found several amilien who bore the hero's name Bra

and claimed to be descendants of his. This has little value, however, for we
know that priests assumed the name of their god, and nearly all mythical
meine have had descendants, as Zeus, Herakles, and others. Boturini, Idea,
p. °

THE APOSTLE WIXEPECOCHA. 455

a cross, which he planted with his own hand, and ad-
monished the people to preserve it sacredly, for one day
they would be taught its significance.” Some authors
describe a personage of the same appearance and charac-
ter, coming from the same quarter, and appearing in the
country shortly after, but it is doubtless the same old
man, who, on leaving Huatulco, may have turned his
steps to the interior. His voice is next heard in Mict-
lan,“ inveighing in gentle but firm accents against the -
pleasures of this world, and enjoining repentance and
expiation. His life was in strict accordance with his
doctrines, and never, except at confession, did he ap-
proach a woman. But the lot of Wixepecocha, as the
Zapotecs call him, was that of most reformers, Perse-
cuted by those whose vice and superstitions he attacked,
he was driven from one province to another, and at last
took refuge on Mount Cempoaltepec. Even here his
pursuers followed him, climbing its craggy sides to lay
hands upon the prophet. Just as they reached the sum-
mit, he vanished like a shadow, leaving only the print
of his feet upon the rock.

Among the points in this myth that correspond to the
character of Quetzalcoatl may be noticed the appearance
of the prophet from the south-west, which agrees with
the direction of the moisture-bearing winds, the chief
attribute of the Toltec god; the cross, which indicates
not only the four winds, but the rain of which they are
the bearers, attributes recognized by the Mexicans who
decorated the mantle of the god with crosses; the long
beard, the white face, and the dress, which all accord
with the Toltec Quetzalcoatl. Like him Wixepecocha
taught gentle doctrines of reform, like him he was perse-

6 A portion of this relic was sent to Pope Paul V., in 1613; the remainder
was deposited in the cathedral for safe keeping. Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom.
ii., pt ii., fol. 350-2,

« The gee of the dead, or hades, also called Yopaa, land of tombs.
Brasseur , Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 9.

6 Fray Juan de Ojedo saw and felt the indentation of two feet upon the
rook, the muscles and toes as distinctly marked as if they had been pressed
upon soft wax. The Mijes had this tradition written in characters on skin.
Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. i ., pt ii., ful, 299,

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456 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

cuted and forced to wander from place to place, and at
last disappeared, leaving his followers the hope of a better
future. The doctrine of Wixepecocha, took root and
flourished in the land he had consecrated with his toils
and prayers, and, according to Brasseur de Bourbourg,
Wiyatao, the pontiff of Zapotecapan, was vicar and suc-
cessor of the ‘ prophet of Monapostiac.’”

The early padres saw in this personage none other
than St. Thomas, the apostle, who had walked across
to plant the cross and prepare the way for christianity.
There is, or was until recently, a statue of him in the
village of Magdalena, four leagues from Tehuantepec,
which represented him with long white beard, and
mufled up in a long robe with a hood, secured by a cord
round the waist; he was seated in a reflective attitude,
listening to the confession of a woman kneeling by his
side.” A similar statue is mentioned by Burgoa, as
having existed in a cave not far from Xustlahuaca. in
Mistecapan,® where it stood near the entrance, on a mar-
ble monolith eleven feet in height. The approach to the
cavern appears to have formerly led through a beautiful
garden; within were masses of stalactite of the most
fantastic and varied forms, many of which the people
had fashioned into images of Jifferent kinds, and of the
most artistic execution, says the padre, whose fancy was
doubtless aided by the twilight within. Here lay the
embalmed bodies of kings and pontiffs, surrounded by treas-
ures, for this was a supposed entrance to the flowered
fields of heaven. The temple cave at Mictlan bore a
similar reputation, and served as a sepulchre for the
Zapotec grandees. It consisted of four chief divisions,
the largest forming the sanctuary proper, the second and

& A name gree to Wixepecocha by the tradition, which adds that he wns
geen on the island of Monupostiac, near Tehuantepec, previous to his final
disappearance, Brasseur de Bourboury, Hist, Nut. Civ., tom. iii., p. 411.
Quetsalooast also disappeared seaward,

67 He debarked neur Tehuantepec, bearing a cross in his hand; Gondra,
Rasgos y ge ee i berars predicacion en el Nuevo-Mundo, MS8.; ‘Carriedo,
Estudios, H a ageay i tom, F. cap. i.; Brasseur de Bourboury,
Hild, Nat. Oto. yh fii., pp. 9-

6 Brasseur "de Bourbourg vl to place it at Chalcatongo. Hist, Nat.
Civ., tom. iii., p. 19; Bouryoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. ii., pt i., fol. 170,

GODS OF OAJACA. 457

third the tombs of kings and pontiffs, and the fourth a -

vestibule to an immense labyrinthine grotto, in which
brave warriors were occasionally buried. Into this, the
very ante-room of paradise, frenzied devotees would at
times enter, and seek in its dark mazes for the abode of
the gods; none ever returned from this dread quest, for
the entrance was closed with a great stone, and doubt-
less many a poor wretch as he touched in his last feeble
gropings the bones of those who had preceded him, felt
the light come in upon his soul in spite of the thick
darkness, and knew he had been deluded; but the
mighty stone at the mouth of the cave told no secrets.”

The prominence of the Plutonic element in the wor-
ship of Oajaca is shown by the fact that Pezelao, whose
character corresponded to that of the Mexican Mictlan-
tecutli, received high honors, The other conspicuous
gods, as enumerated by Brasseur de Bourbourg, were
Pitao-Cocobi, god of abundance, or of the harvest; Cociyo,
the rain god; Cozaana, patron of hunters and fishermen;
and Pitao-Xoo, god of earthquakes. Other deities con-
trolled riches, misfortunes, auguries, poetic .inspiration
—even the hens had their patron divinity. As might be
expected of a people who regarded even living kings and
priests with adoration, apotheosis was common. Thus,
Petela, an ancient Zapotec cacique whose name signified
dog, was worshiped in the cavern of Coatlan. At one
end of this subterranean temple a yawning abyss re-
ceived the foaming waters of a mountain torrent, and
into this slaves and captives, gaily dressed and adorned
with flowers, were cast on certain occasions,”

At another place was a white stone shaped iike a nine-
pin, supposed to be the embodiment of Pinopiaa, a saintly
princess of Zapotecapan, whose corpse had been miracu-
lously conveyed to heaven and returned in this form for
the benefit of the devout.”

6 Kecalera and Liana, Mej, Hist, Descrip., p. 330,

70 ‘Le tenian enterrado, seco, y embalsamado en su proporcion.’ The
cave was supposed to connect with the city of Chiapas, leagues distant,
Herrera, Hist, Gen., deo, iii., lib. iii, cap, xiv.

71 ‘Piedra blanca, labrada al modo de vn acho de bolos ...vn gruesso
taladro,’ Burgoa, Geog, Descrip., tom. ii., pt ii., fol. 362.

on

458 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

In Chiapas they worshiped Costahuntox, who was rep-
resented with ram’s horns on his head, and sat on a
throne surrounded by thirteen grandees. In the district
of Llanos, Yabalan, or Yahalan, and Canamlum were
the chief gods. Even living beings held the position of
deities, according to Diaz, who states that a fat old
woman, dressed in richly decorated robes, whom the
natives venerated as a goddess, led them against the
Spanish invaders, but was killed.” Among the Mijes a
green flat stone, with blood-red, lustrous rays, was held
in much veneration. Although this is the only reference
made by the chroniclers that may be connected with sun
worship,—-which, by the way, could scarcely have claimed
a very high position here, since the founder of the Miz-
tec royal family is stated to have been victorious in a
contest with the sun,—it is worthy of note that the Zapo-
tec word fiuhu, fire, also denotes divinity, idol, everything
sacred, the earth itself. The household idols had their
names, history, and worship depicted on bark, and
smoked or painted hides, in order to keep them always
before the people, and insure to the youth a knowledge
of their god. How firmly rooted idolatry was, and how
slow the work of eradicating it must have been,
to the padres, notwitastanding they destroyed every
idol they could lay hands on, is shown by the fact
that among the Guechecoros a statue of Cortés served
as an object of worship.“ Nagualism is one of the
ancient forms of worship which still flourish, and consists
in choosing an animal as the tulelary divinity of child,
whose existence will be so closely connected with it, that

7 Bernal Diaz, Hist. Cong., fol. 179; Salazar y Olarte, Hist. Cong. Mex., p.
197, There were many among the padres who held Yabalan to have been an
immediate descendant of Noah's son Ham, because the name signified ‘ chief
black man, or negro.’ Pivieda, in Soc, Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom, ii

73 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist, Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 17;

Hist. Fund. Mez., pp. 638-9. In Chiap.s are found a number of representa-
tions of heavenly bodies, sculptured, or drawn and at Palenque a sun tem-
ie is re? 1 em to have existed. Pivieda, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom,

» p. 419.

it They ‘worship his image in their own peculiar way, sometimes by cut-
ting off a turkey’s head.’ ‘'The natives are about as far advanced in christi-
a Fg they were at the ti:ne of the conquest.’ Hutching’s Cal. Mag., vol. ii.,
p- °

TREE WORSHIP. 459

the life of one depends on that of the other, Burgoa
states that the priest selected the animal by divination;
when the boy grew up he was directed to proceed to a
mountain to offer sacrifice, and there the animal would
appear to him. Others say that at the hour of the
mother’s confinement, the father and friends drew on
the floor of the hut the outline of various animals, effac-
ing each figure as soon as they began the next, and the
figure that remained at the moment of delivery repre-
sented the guardian of the infant; or, that the bird or
beast first seen by the watchers after the confinement
was accepted as the nagual. The bestowal of the sign of
the day upon the infant as its name may perhaps be con-
sidered as a species of nagualism, since the name of ani-
mals often formed these signs.”

A form of worship particularly marked in this country
was the veneration accorded to trees, as may be jud
from the myth which attributes the origin of the Miztec,
as well as a portion at least of the Zapotec people to two
trees. This cult existed also in other parts of Mexico
and Central America, where cypresses and palms grow-
ing near the temples, generally in groups of three, were
tended with great care, and often received offerings of
incense and other gifts. They do not, however, seem
to have been dedicated to any particular god, as among
the Romans, where Pluto claimed the cypress, andVic-
tory the palm. One of the most sacred of these relics is
acypress standing at Santa Marfa de Tule, the venerable
trunk of which measures ninety feet in circumference, at
a height of six feet from the ground.”

One of the chief offerings of the Zapotecs was the blood
of the, to them sacred, turkey; straws and feathers
smeared with blood from the back of the ear, and from
beneath the tongue of persons, also constituted a large por-

%s puree, Geog. Descrip., tom. ii., pt ii, fol. 395; Ferry, Costal L' Indien,

PP Some consider it to be composed of three trunks which have grown to-
gether, and the deep indentations certainly give it that appearance; but trees
yi this species gensrelly present irregular forms, Escalrra and Lana, Md.

ist. Descrip., pp. Charnay, Ruts Ameér., phot, xviii,

460 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

tion of the sacred offerings, and were presented in spec-
ial grass vessels. Human sacrifices were not common with
the Oajacan people, but in case of emergency, captives
and slaves were generally the victims. The usual mode
of offering them was to tear out the heart, but in some
places, as at Coatlan, they were cast into an abyss,
Herrera states that men were offered to the gods, women
to goddesses, and children to inferior deities, and that
their bodies were eaten, but the latter statement is doubt-
ful,”

7 Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. xiv.; Burgoa, . Descrip., tom. ii.,
pt ii., fol. 282; Mihlenpfordt, a bp tom. ii., p. 194. Pontelli, who claims
to have paid a visit to the forbidden retreats of the mountain Lacandones,
a few years ago, mentions, among other peculiarities, a stone of sacrifice,
interlaced by serpents, and covered with hieroglyphics, on which the heart
at as * nal were torn out. Correo de Ultramar, Paris 1860; Cal. Farmer,

OV. é. je

f
(
I
i
(
f
d
{

CHAPTER XI.

GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, ANT WORSHIP.

Maya Panroron—ZamnA—Cvurvuitcan—THE Gops or YucaTaN—TuHE Sym-
BOL OF THE Cross IN AmMERICA— Human Sacririces 1x YucaTtan—
Priests or YucATAN—GUATEMALAN PaNTHEON-—TEPEU AND HurakaN—
Avmuix anp Hacavitz—Tue Henoks or tHe Sacrep Boox—QuicHk
Gopvs— WorsHie oF THE CHOLES, MancuEs, Itzas, LACANDONES, AND
OTHERS—TRADITION OF CoMIZAHUAL—FasTs—PRIESTS OF GUATEMALA——
Gops, Wonrsuir, anp Priests or NicaRAGUA—WoRSHIP ON THE Mos-
quito Coast—Gops AND WorsHIP or THE IstTHMIANS— PHALLIC Wor-
SHIP IN AMERICA.

The religion of the Mayas was fundamentally the same
as that of the Nahuas, though it differed somewhat in
outward forms. Most of the gods were deified heroes,
brought more or less prominently to the front by their
importance. Occasionally we find very distinct traces
of an older sun-worship, which has succumbed to later
forms, introduced, according to vague tradition, from
Andhuac. The generality of this cult is testified to by
the numerous representations of sun-plates and sun-pil-
lars found among the ruins of Central America.’

1 ‘Toda esta Tierra, con estotra, .. tenia vna misma manera de religion,
y ritos, y si en algo diferenciaba, era, en mui poco.’ ‘Lo mismo fue de las
Provincias de Quatimala, Nicaragua, y Honduras.’ Torquemada, Monarg.
Ind, tom, ii., pp. 54, 191. Tylor thinks that ‘the civilizations of Mexico
and Central America were originally independent, but that they came much
in contact, and thus modified one another to no small extent.’ Anahuac, p
191. ‘On reconnait facilement que le culte y était partout busé sur le rituel
toltque, et que les formes mémes ne différaient guére les unes des autres.’
Brasseur daha Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 559,

(

ae ee ee ee

eee =

aes eee

462 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

In Yucatan, Hunab Ku, ‘the only god’, called also
Kinehahau, ‘the meuth or eyes of the sun’,’ is repre-
sented as the Supreme Being, the Creator, the Invisible
one, whom no image can represent.’ His spouse Ixazal-
uoh was honored as the inventor of weaving, and their
sun Zamni, or Yaxcocahmut, one of the culture-heroes
of the people, is supposed to have been the inventor of
the art of writing.‘ The inquiries instituted by Las
Casas revealed the existence of a trinity, the first per-
son of which was Izona, the Great Father; the second
was the Son of the Great Father, Bacab, born of the
virgin Chibirias,’ scourged and crucified, he descended
into the realms of the dead, rose again the third day,
and ascended into heaven; the third person of the trin-
ity was Echuah, or Ekchuah, the Holy Ghost. Now, to
accuse the reverend Fathers of deliberately concocting
this and other statements of a similar character is to ac-
cuse them of acts of charlatanism which no religious
zeal could justify. On the other hand, that this mys-
terious trinity, this Maya Christ-myth, had any real ex-
istence in the original belief of the natives, is so improb-
able as to be almost impossible. It may be, however,
that the natives, when questioned concerning their re-
ligion, endeavored to make it conform as nearly as pos-
sible to that of their conquerors, hoping by this means
to gain the good will of their masters, and to lull susri-
cions of lurking idolatry.

Bacab, stated above to mean the Son of the Great
Father, was in reality the name of four spirits who sup-

2 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 42, calls him the
iss Representations of the sun, with whom he seems to be identified, are
not impossible to these peoples if we may judge from the sun-plates with
lapping tongues and other representations found on the ruins in Mexico and
Central America.

4 pergne i este le llamaban tambien Ytzamna,’ Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc.,
pp. 196, 192.

5 The daughter of Ixchel, the Yucatec medicine dess. Brasseur de
Bourborg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 43. He writes the virgin’s name as
Chiribias. Ixchel seems to be the same as the Guatemalan Xmucané, mother
of the gods.’ Id., ps Tettres, p. 243. ;

6 Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. exxiii.; Cogolludo, Hist, Yuc., p. .

ia Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, p. 246; Torquemads, Monarg. Ind., tom, iii., p.

ZAMNA. 468

ported the firmament; while Echuah, or the Holy
Ghost, was the patron god of merchants and travelers.

The goddess Ixcanleox was held to be the mother of
the gods, but as Cogolludo states that she had several
names, sne may possibly be identical with Ixazaluoh,
the wife of Hunab Ku, whose name implies generation.’
The Mayas were not behind their neighbors in the num-
ber of their lesser and special divinities, so that there
was scarcely an animal or imaginary creature which they
did not represent by sacred images. These idols, or
zemes,® as they were called, were generally made of terra
cotta, though sometimes they were of stone, gold, or
wood. In the front rank of the circle of gods, known
by the name of ku, were the deified kings and heroes,
whom we often find credited with attributes so closely
connected as to imply identity, or representation of
varied phases of the same element.” The most popular
names were Zamni and Cukulcan, both culture-heroes,
and considered by some to be identical; a very probable
supposition when we consider that Quetzalcoatl, who is
admitted to be the same as Cukulcan, had the attribute
of the strong hand, as well as Zamnid. The tradition
relates that some time after the fall of the Quinamean
Empire, Zamn4 appeared in Yucatan, coming from the
west, and was received with great respect wherever he
stayed. Besides being the inventor of the alphabet, he
is said to have named all points and places in the
country. Over his grave rose a city called Izamal
or Itzamat Ul, which soon became one of the chief cen-
tres of pilgrimage in the peninsula, especially for the
afflicted, who sincerely believed that their prayers when
accompanied by suitable presents would not fail to obtain

7 * Celle de l’eau matrice d’embryon, ix-a-zal-uoh,’ Brasseur de Bourbourg,
MS. Troano, tom. ii., , 258,

P

8 *Idolo, 6 Zemi.’ Villaqutierre, Hist Cong. Itza, p. 33. ‘Zemes which
are in i of their familiar and domesticall spirites.’ Peter Martyr, dec.
iv,, lib. vi.

9 ‘Les dieux de l'Yucatan, disent Lizana et Cogolludo, étaient presque
tous des rois plus ou moins bons que In gratitude on Ia terreur avait fnit
placer au rang des divinités.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nut. Civ., tom. ii,
p. 20; Landa, Relacion, p. 158; Cogolludo, Hist, Yuc., p. 198.

eee

464 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

a hearing. This class of devotees generally resorted to
the temple where he was represented in the form of a
hand, Kab U!, or working hand, whose touch was suf-
ficient to restore health.”

Professor Miiller thinks it very uncertain whether the
creating or working hand referred to the sun, as was the
case among the northern tribes, but the account given
of the following idol seems to me to make this not im-
probable. In the same city was an image of Kinich
Kakmo, ‘face or eye of the sun’, whom Landa represents
to be the offspring of the sun, but who subsequently be-
came identified with that luminary and received divine
honors in the very temple that he had erected to his
father. He is represented in the act of sacrifice, point-
ing the finger toward a ray from the midday sun, as if
to draw a spark wherewith to kindle the sacred fire. To
this idol the people resorted in times of calamity and
sickness, bringing offerings to induce oracular advice."
There are many things which seem to me to identify
this personage with Zamni, although other writers hold
them to be distinct. Cogolludo, for instance, implies
that Zamnd was the only son of the sun, or Supreme
Reing, while Landa and others declare Kinich Kakmo
to be the son of that luminary; both are placed on or
about the same level and considered as healers, and the
uplifted hand of the latter reminds us strongly of the
Kab Ul. Another form in which we may recognize

10 Lizana, in Landa, Relacion, p. 356; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 197; Brin-
ton, Myths, p. 188, speaks of ‘Zumna, or Cukulcan, lord of the dawn and four
winds,’ and connects him with Votan also. ‘Ilya toute apparence qu'il
était de la méme race (a3 Votan) et que son arrivée eut leu peu d’années
aprés la fondation de la monarchie palenquécnne,’ Brasseur de Bourbourg,

t. Nat. Civ., tom. i., p. 76, et seq. The hand in picture-writing signifies
strength, power, mastery, and is frequently met with on Central American
ruins, impressed in red color, Among the North American savages it was
the symbol of supplication. Their doctors sometimes smeared the hand
with paint and daubed it over the patient. Schoolcraft, in Stephens’ Yuca-
tan, vol. ii., PP. 476-8.

it Lizana, in Landa, Relacion, p. 360, translates the name as ‘Sol con
rostro que sus rayos eran de fuego,’ Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 198, 178;
Brasseur de Bourbourg, MS. Troano, p. 270; Id., Hist. Nat, Civ., tom. ii., pp.
5-6; Miiller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, p.475. Inthe syllable mo of the
hero’s name is found another reference to the sun, for moo is the Maya term
for the bird aru, the symbol of the sun,

CUKULCAN. 465

Zamnié, is the image of Itzamat Ul, or ‘the dew of heaven’,
who is said to have been a great ruler, the son of god,
and who cured diseases, raised the dead, and pronounced
oracles. When asked his name, he replied, ytzencaan,
ytzenmuyal.

The other culture-hero, Cukulcan, appeared in Yuca-
tan from the west, with nineteen followers, two of whom
were gods of fishes, two gods of farms, and one of thun-
der, all wearing full beard, long robes, and sandals, but
no head-covering. This event is supposed to have oc-
curred at the very time that Quetzalcoatl disappeared in
the neighboring province of Goazacoalco, a conjecture
which, in addition to the similarity of the names,
character, and work of the heroes, forms the basis for
their almost generally accepted identity. Cukulcan
stopped at several places in Yucatan, but at last settled
in Chichen Itza, where he governed for ten years, and
framed laws. At the expiration of this period, he left
without apparent reason to return to the country whence
he had come. A grateful people erected temples at
Mayapan and Chichen, to which pilgrims resorted from
all quarters to worship him as a god, and to drink of
the waters in which he had bathed. His worship, al-
though pretty general throughout Yucatan at one time,
was later on contined chiefly to the immediate scenes of
his labors.”

18 *E] que recibe, y possee la gracia, d rozio del Cielo.’ ‘No conocian
otro Dios Autor de la vida, sino & este.’ Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., p. 179, ‘Ce-
lui qui demande ou obtient la rosée ou la glace, ou rempli de l’eau en bras de

lace, itz-m-a-tul.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, MS. Troano, tom. ii., p. 257; Landa,
cion, pp. 284-5.

13 After staying a short time at Potonchan, he embarked and nothing
more was heard of him. The Codex Chimalpopoca states, however, that he
died in Tlapallan, four days after his return. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist.
Nat, Civ., tom. ii., p. 18. In another place this writer refers to three broth-
ers, itzaob, ‘saintly man,’ who were probably sent by Quetzalcoatl to spread
his doctrines, but who ultimately founticd a monarchy. They also seem to
throw a doubt on the identity of Cukulcan with Quetzalcoatl. ‘Il n’y a pas
4 douter, toutefois, que, s'il est le méme que Quetzalcohuatl, la doctrine aura
été la méme.’ Jd., pp. 10-1, 43. Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., p. 52,
states that the Cocomes were his descendants, but as the hero never married,
his disciples must rather be accepted as their ancestors. Landa, Relacion, pp.
35-9, 300-1: Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. x., cap. ii. Veytia connects
him with St. Thomas. Hist. Antig. Mej., tom. i., pp. 195-8. Speaking of
Cukulcan hl his companions Las Casas says: ‘A este llamaron Dios de las

OL

Bs as pecan lame ncn
naan ee eee

|

466 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Besides Izamal and Chichen, there was a third great
centre of worship in Yucatan, namely, the temple of
Ahulneb, on Cozumel Island, said by some writers to
have been the chief sanctuary, Chichen being second in
importance. It consisted of a square tower of consider-
able size, within which was the gigantic terra-cotta statue
of Ahulneb, dressed as a warrior, and holding an arrow
in his hand. The statue was hollow and set up close
against an aperture in the wall, by which the priest en-
tered the figure to deliver the oracle; should the predic-
tion not be fulfilled, which was scarcely likely as it was
generally so worded that it might mean anything or
nothing, the failure was ascribed to insufficient sacrifice
or unatoned sin. So famous did this oracle become,
and so great was the multitude of pilgrims continually
flocking to it, that it was found necessary to construct
roads leading from the chief cities of Yucatan, and even
from Tabasco and Guatemala, to Polé, a town on the
continent opposite the island. Before embarking, the
genius of the sea was always propitiated by the sacrifice
of a dog, which was slain with arrows amid music and
dancing.“

The Bacabs were four brothers who supported the
four corners of the firmament; they were also regarded
as air gods. Cogolludo speaks of them as Zacal Bacab,
Canal Bacab, Chacal Bacab, and Ekel Bacab, but they
were also known by other names. Echuah was the
patron-god of merchants and of roads; to him the trav-
eler erected every night a rude altar of six stones, three
laid flat, and three set upright, upon which he burned
incense while he invoked the protection of the god. It

fiebres 6 Calenturas....Los cuales mandaban que se confesasen las gentes y
ayunasen; y que algunos ayunaban el viernes porque habia muerto aquel
dia Bacab; y tiene por nombre aquel dia Himis.’ Hist. Apologética, MS.,
cap. cxxiii. ‘Kulculcan, vient de kuk, oiseau qui parait étre le méme que le
quetzal; son fy ion est kulcul qui uni & can, serpent, fait exactement le
ten mot tzal Cohuail, serpent aux Pianiee vertes, ou de Quetzal.’
Brasseur de Dour ourg, in Landa, Relacion, | sand
'¢ Gomara, Cong. Mez., fol. 22; Landa, elacion, p. 158; sige a oe

Yue., p. 202; Brasseur de " Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii.,
tenian por santificados los que alla auian estado,’ "Herrera, "Peis Ge pale 4
iv., lib. x., cap. iv.

Oe se Se + & eS ee le

a OP OO OY ew or NY

YUCATEC DEITIES. 467

was considered a religious duty by Yucatec wayfarers,
when passing some prominent point on the road or spot
where an image of Echuah stood, to add a stone or two
to the heap already accumulated there, an act of devo-
tion similar to that performed by the Romans in honor
of Mercury. Yuncemil was Lord of Death, or, perhaps,
the personification of death itself; this dread deity was
propitiated with offerings of food. Acat was God of
Life; he it was that formed the infant in the womb. At
Tihoo, the present Mérida, stood the magnificent temple
of Yahau Kuna in which Baklum Chaam, the Priapus
of the Mayas and their most ancient god was worshiped.
Chac, or Chaac, a former king of Izamal, was honored
as the god of fields, and fertility, and the inventor of
agriculture. Some distance south-west of this city was
the temple of Hunpictok, ‘commander of eight thousand
lances’, a title given also to the general of the army.”
Abchuy Kak was another apotuvosized warrior-prince,
whose statue, dressed in royal robes, was borne in the
van of the army by four oi the most illustrious captains,
and received an ovation all along the route. Yxchebel-
yax is mentioned as the inventor of the art of inter-
weaving figures in cloth, and of painting. Xibalba, ‘he
who disappears,’ was the name of the evil spirit. Ex-
quemelin relates that nagualism obtained on the coast.
The naked child was placed on a bed of ashes in the
temple, and the animal whose footprint was noticed in
the ashes, was adopted as the nagual, and to it the child
offered incense as it grew up.”

One of the most remarkable emblems of Maya

15 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat, Civ., tom. ii., p. 50, calls the god of
death Rakalku. Baeza, in Registro Yuc., tom. i., pp. 168-9, mentions a
transparent stone called zatzun, by means of which hidden things and causes
of diseases could be discovered. :

16 ‘Cette divinité parait étre la méme que le Tikax des Quichés et Cakchi-
quels, le Tecpatl des Mexicains, la lance ou la fléche.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg,
in Landa, Relacion, B 363.

17 Zee-Rovers, p. 64; Cogolludo, Fiist. Ae 178, 190-1, 196-7; Landa,
Relacion, pp. 206-8; Lizana, in Id., pp. 356-64; Ternaua-Compans, in Nou-
velles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xevii., pp. 40-4; Domenech's Deserts, vol.
i., pp. 17, 32; Remesal, Hist. Chyapu, Rin 245-6; Brasseur de Bourbourg,
Hist, Nat, Civ., tom. ii., pp. 4-10, 20, 42-50,

468 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

worship, in the estimation of the conquerors, was the
cross, which has also been noticed in other parts of Cen-
tral America and in Mexico,” although less prominently
than here. Among the many conjectures as to its origin it
is supposed that it was received from Spaniards who
were wrecked on the coast before Cérdova discovered
Yucatan, as, for instance, the pious Aguilar, Cortés’ in-
terpreter; but this would not account for the crosses that
existed in other parts of Central America. The natives
had a tradition, however, which placed the introduction
of the cross a few years before the conquest. Among
the many prophets who arose at that time was one who
predicted the coming of a strange people from the di-
rection of the rising sun, who would bring with them
a monotheistic faith having the cross for its emblem.
He admonished them to accept the new religion, and
erected a cross as a token of his prophecy.” Another
tradition states that a very handsome man passed through
the country and left the cross as a memento, and this
many of the padres readily believed, declaring this per-
sonage to be none other than the wanderer St Thomas.”
The opinion that it was introduced by early Christians,
or old-world pagans, is, however, opposed by the argu-
ment that other more practical features of their culture

18 ‘Tra le Croci sono celebri quelle di Jucatan, della Mizteca, di Queretaro,
di Tepique, e di Tianquiztepec.’ Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii.,
Pp. 14. ‘There were also crosses at Palenque, on San Juan de Ulloa. at Copan,
n Nicaragua, and other places. ‘Die Tolteken haben ndmlich dic Vereh-
rung des Kreuzes mit durchaus bewusster Beziehung desselben auf den
Regen, von der alten Urbevélkerung aufgenommen.’ Miiller, Amerikanische
Urreligionen, pp. 498-9; Palacio, Carta, p. 88.

19 This and other prophecies, which, if not mere fabrications, bear at
least marks of mutilation and addition, may be found in Torquemada,
Morarg. Ind., tom. iii., pp. 132-3; Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, pp. 245-6; Cogol-
ludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 99-100; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat, Civ., tom. ii.,
RP. 603-6, Brinton thinks that they may refer to ‘the return of Zammé, or

uckulcan, lord of the dawn and the four winds, worshipped at Cozumel
... under the sign of the cross.’ Myths, p. 188. The report circulated by
Aguilar of his people and of the cross, may have given the prophets a clue.

%0 <The formation of such an opinion by the Spaniards seems to shew
Almost conclusively, that the aborigines of the couatry did not retain any
traditional history on the subject that would justify the simple belief, that
Catholic Europeans had ever possessed influence enough among them to
have established so important a feature in their superstitious observances.’
MeoUVulloh, Researches in Amer., p. 327. ‘Afirmaban que por que habia muer-
to en ella un hombre mas replandeciente que el sol.’ Las Casas, Hist. Apolo-
gética, MS., cap. cxxiii; Peter Martyr, dec. iv., lib. i.

THE SYMBOL OF THE OROSS. 469

would have left their mark at the same time. The sym-
bol itself is so simple and suggestive of so many ideas
that it seems to me most reasonable to suppose that the
natives adopted it without foreign aid. At all events,
as the cross was in use both as a religious emblem and
an instrument of punishment long before the Christian
era, it is surely unnecessary to account for its presence
in America by Christ-myths invented for the occasion,
or, in fact, in any way to connect it with Christianity.
The most common signification attributed to the symbol
is fertility or generation. A piece of wood fastened
horizontally to an upright beam indicated the height of
the overflow of the Nile. If the flood reached this mark,
the crops flourished; should it fail to do so, famine was
the result; thus, we are told, in Egypt the cross came to
be worshipped as a symbol of life and generation, or
feared as an image of decay and death. By other peo-
ples and for other reasons it was closely connected with
phallic rites, of which I shall speak elsewhere, or was
connected with the worship of that great fertilizer and
life-giver, the sun. Among the Chinese the cross signi-
fies conception. The cross of Thor may possibly be
an exception, and refer merely to his hammer or thun-
derbolt.”

With the Mexicans the cross was a symbol of rain,
the fertilizing element, or rather of the four winds, the
bearers of rain, and as such it was one of Quetzalcoatl’s
emblems. Chalchiuitlicue, the sister of the rain-gods,
bore in her hands a cross-shaped vessel. The cross is to
be found in Mexican MSS., and appears in that of Fe-

% Mr Godfrey Higgins, in his Celtic Druids, p. 126, says: ‘Few causes
have been more powerful in producing mistakes in ancient history, than
the idea, hastily taken up by Christians in all ages, that every monument of
antiquity marked with ‘a cross, or with any of those symbols which they
conceived to be monograms of Christ, were of Christian origin. ...The cross
is as common in India as in Egypt, and Europe,’ Mr Maurice, in his Indian
Antiquities, vol. ii., p. 361, writes: ‘Let not the piety of the Catholic Chris-
tian be offended at the preceding assertion that the cross was one of the
most usual symbols among the nine Bee of Egypt and India.’ The
emblem of universal nature is equally honored in the Geutile and Chris-
tian world, ‘In the cave at Flephanta, in India, over the head of the

principal figure, again may be seen this figure (the cross), and a little in
the front the huge Lingham’ (phallus),

470 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

jérvary with a bird, which, as an inhabitant of the air,
may be said to accord with the character of the symbol.
The Mexican name of the cross, tonacaquahuitl, ‘ tree of
one life, or flesh,’ certainly conveys the idea of fertility.
It is nevertheless regarded by som: writers merely as an
astronomical sign.” The first cross noticed by the Span-
iards stood within the turreted courtyard of a temple
on Cozumel Island; it was composed of lime and stone,
and was ten spans (palmos) in height. To this cross the
natives prayed for rain, and in times of drought went in
procession to offer vahomche, as they called the symbol,
quails and other propitiatory gifts. Another cross stood
within the precincts of the Spanish cloister at Mérida,
whither the pious monks had most likely brought it from
Cozumel; it was about three feet high, six inches thick,
and had another cross sculptured on its face.* The
sculptured cross at Palenque has the latin form; a bird
is perched on its apex, and on either side stands a human
figure, apparently priests, one of whom offers it a child.™

2 Constantio holds it to be a y seb of the solstices. Malte-Brun, Précis

de la Géoy., tom. vi., pp. 464-5; Humboldt, Eawam. Crit., tom. ii., pp. 354-6;
Walileck, Voy. Pitt., p. 24; Miiller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, pp. 497-500;
Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. iii., . 133, 200-6, 299; M’Culloh’s Re-
searches, pp. 331-6; Klemm, Oullur-Geschiehte, tom. v., p. 143; Gomara, Hist.
Ind., fol. a Brinton refers to a statement that the Mexicans had cruciform
graves, and supposes that this referred to four spirits of the world who were
to carry the deceased to heaven, but there seems to be a mistake on both of
these points. Myths, pp. 95-8; Gould’s Curious Myths, vol. ii., p. 79, et seq.;
Cox's Mythology of Aryan Nations, vol. ii., pp. 369-72. Some of the crosses
referred to lack the head piece, and being of this shape, JT, resemble, some-
what, a Mexican coin.

%3 ‘No solo se halld vna Cruz, sino algunas.’ Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., PP:
199-302; Bernal Diaz, Hist. Cong., fol. 3; Hererra, Hist, Gen., dec. ii., lib.
ii., cap. i; Gomara, Cong. Mew., fol. 24. Stephens found a cross at the
church of Mejorada, ii, Mérida, which an old monk had dug out of the ruins
of a church on Cozumel Island, ‘The connecting of the ‘‘ Cozumel Cross”
with the ruined church on the island completely invalidates the strongest
proof offered at this day that the cross was ever recognized by the Indians
as a syinbol of worship.’ Yucatan, vol. ii., pp. 377-8. Rather a hasty asser-
tion when made in the face of so many old authorities. ,

% This seems to confirm the idea that it was worshiped, yet Constantio
regards it as a representation of the birth of the sun in the winter solstice,
and holds the to which the cross belongs to bes sun temple, Malte-
Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., pp. 464-5; Miiller, Amerikanische Urreli-
gionen, p. 498; Stephen's Cent. Amer., vol. i, pp. 345-8. Squier, who denies
that the Tonacaquahnitl was intended to represent a cross, thinks that the
Palenque cross merely represents one of these trees with the branches
placed crosswise. Palacio, Carta, pp. 120-1; Jones, Hist, Anc. Amer., p. 149,
et seq, who identifies almost every feature of Central American worshi))

HUMAN SACRIFICES IN YUCATAN. 471

The Yucatecs were as careful as the Mexicans to pre-
pare for their numerous festivals by fasts marked by
strict chastity and absence from salt and pepper.” Scar-
ification could not be omitted by the pious on these oc-
casions, although women were not called upon to draw
blood.” Yet their gods were not by any means so blood-
thirsty as the Mexican, being generally appeased by the
blood of animals, and human sacrifices were called for
only on extraordinary occasions. Cukulcan, like his
prototype Quetzalcoatl, doubtless opposed the shedding
of human blood, but after his departure the practice
certainly existed, and the pit at Chichen Itza, whose
waters he had consecrated with his person, was among
the first places to be polluted. The victims here were
generally young virgins, who were charged when they
should come into the presence of the gods to entreat them
for the needed blessings. Medel relates that on one oc-
casion the victim threatened to invoke the most terrible
evils upon the people, instead of blessings, if they sac-
rificed her against her will; the perplexed priests
thought it prudent to let the girl go, and select another
and more tractable sacrifice in her place. The victims
who died under the knife, or were tied to a tree and
shot, were usually enslaved captives, especially those of
rank, but when these failed, criminals and even children
were substituted. All contributed to these sacrifices,
either by presenting slaves and children, or by subscrib-
ing to the purchase money. While awaiting this doom
the victims were well treated, and conducted from town
to town amid great rejoicings; care was taken, however,
that no sinful act should detract from their purity or

with the Phoonician, asserts that the Palenque cross proves the Tyrian origin
of the aborigines,

% Cogolludo says, however: ‘Solian ayunar dos, y tres dias, sin comer
cosa alguna,’ Ilist, Yuc., p. 194.

% These mutilations were at times very severe. ‘Otras vezes hazian un
suzio y penoso sacrificio afindandose los que lo hazian en el templo, donde
pee en rengla, se hazian sendos aguzeros en los miembros viriles al sos

ayo por el lado, y hechos passavan toda la mas cantidad de hilo que podian,
uedando assi todos asidos,’ Landa, Relacion, pp, 162-2, This author thinks
that the practice of slitting the prepuce gave rise to the idea that circumci-
sion existed in Yucatan,

472 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

value.” Sometimes the body was eaten, says Landa,
the feet, hands and head being given to the priests, the
rest to the chiefs and others; but Cogolludo and Gomara
insist that cannibalism was not practiced. ‘The latter
statement can not apply to the whole of the peninsula,
however, for on a preceding page Cogolludo relates that
Aguilar’s shipwrecked companions were sacrificed and
eaten by the natives.”

Confession, which Cukulcan is said to have introduced,
was much resorted to, the more so as death and disease
were thought to be direct punishments for sin commit-
ted. Married priests were the regular confessors, but
these were not always applied to for spiritual aid; the
wife would often confess to her husband, or a husband
to his wife, or sometimes a public avowal was made. Men-
tal sins however, says Landa, were not confessed.”

The priesthood of Yucatan were divided into different
factions, some of which regarded Zamnd and Cukulcan
as their respective founders, while others remained true
to more ancient leaders. According to Landa the high-
priest was termed Ahkin Mai, or Ahau Can Mai, and
held in great veneration, as one whose advice was fol-
lowed by the kings and grandees, The revenues of the
office, which passed as an inheritance to the son or near-
est relative, consisted of presents from the king and of
tributes collected by the priests. The ordinary priests
bore the title of ahkin,® and were divided into several

27 Landa, Relacion, pp. 161-8; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., pp. 193-4; Medel, in

Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xevii., p. 43; vol. ii., pp. 704-5, of
this work, ‘For want of children they sacrifice dogges.’ Peter Martyr, dee.
iv., lib, vi. ‘El numero de la gente sacrificada era mucho: y esta costumbre
fue introduzida en Yucatan, por los Mexicanos.’ ‘Flechauan algunas vezes
al sacrificado, .. .desollauanlos, vestiase el sacerdote el pellejo, y baylauo, y
enterrauan el cuerpo en el patio del templo.’ Herrera, /iist. Gén., dec.
iv., lib. x., cap. iii, iv. Tradition relates that in a cave near Uxmal existed
a well like that of Chichen, guarded by an old woman, the builder of the
dwarf palace in that city, who sold the water for infants, and these she cast
before the snake at her side, Stephens’ Cent, Amer., vol ii., p. 425,

% Landa, Relacion, p. 165; Cogolludo, Hist, Yuc., pp. 25, 180; & mara,
Hist, Ind., fol. 62,

2 Relacion, p. 154; Herrera, Hist, Gen., dec, iv., lib. x., cap. iv. For des-
cription of baptismal rites, see vul. ii., pp. 682-4, of this work.

30* Que se deriva de un verbo kinyah, que significa ‘‘sortear 6 echar
euertes,’’’ Lizuna, in Landa, Relacion, p. 362,

PRIESTS OF YUCATAN. 478

classes. Some of them preached, made offerings, kept
records, and instructed the sonsof nobles and those des-
tined for the priesthood in the various branches of edu-
cation. The chilanes who construed the oracles of the
gods, and accordingly exercised great influence, held the
highest place in the estimation of the people, before
whom they a}; eared in state, borne in litters. The sor-
cerers and medicine men foretold fortunes and cured
diseases. The chacs were four old men elected at every
celebration to assist the priests, from which it would
seem that the priesthood was not a very numerous body.
nacon was the title of the sacrificer, an office held
for life, but little esteemed; this title was also borne by
the general of the army, who assisted at certain festi-
vals. Marriage seems to have been permitted to all,
and confessors were actually required to have wives, yet
there were doubtless a large number who lived in a state
of celibacy, devoted to their sacred duties. Their dress
varied according to their rank, the high-priest being dis-
tinguished by a mitre in addition to his peculiar robe;
the most usual dress was, however, a large white cotton
robe” and a turban formed by wreathing the unwashed
hair round the head, and keeping it pasted in that
position with blood. Connected with the sun wor-
ship was an order of vestals, formed by princess Zu-
hui Kak, ‘fire virgin, the daughter of Kinich Kakmo,
superioress of the vestals. The members were all vol-
unteers, who generally enrolled themselves for a certain
time, at the expiration of which they were allowed to
leave and enter the married state; some, however, re-
mained for ever in the service of the temple, and were
apotheosized. Their duty wes to tend the sacr.i fire,
the emblem of the sun, ¢ ‘o keep strictly chaste;
those who broke their vows were shot to death with
arrows,”

31 * Longues robes noires.’ Morelet, Voyage, tom. i., p. 168.

38 Cogolludo, Hist, Yuc., p. 198; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ.,
tom, ii., p. 6; Ternaua-Compans, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom.
xevii,, pp. 89-41, Temples are described in vol. ii., pp. 791-3, of this work.

(a RTS Dn nae ie eae SR iret earn EY A SRS es Ce ae eT RSE ET NE ES Seger es

RS

474 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

The chief account of Guatemalan worship is derived
from the sacred book of the Quichés, the Popol Vuh, to
which I have already referred in the opening pages of
this volume, but the description given in it is so con-
fused, the names and attributes of the gods so mixed,
that no very reliable conclusions can be derived there-
from. This very confusion seems, however, to indicate
that the imported names of Hurakan, Gucumatz, and
others, were with their attributes attached to native he-
roes, who undergo the most varying fortunes and charac-
ter, amid which now and then a glance is obtained at
their original form.

The most ancient of the gods are two persons called
Hun Ahpu Vuch and Hun Ahpu Utiu, or Xpiyacoc and
Xmucane, Creator and Protector, Grandfather and Grand-
mother of the sun and moon, who are often confounded
under either gender and represented with big noses, like
tapirs, an animal sacred to these people. Brasseur iden-
tifies them with the Mexican Oxomoco and Cipactonal,”
Tonacatlecutli and Tonacatepetl, Ometecutli and Omeci-
huatl, the female also with Centeotl and Toci, and places
her in the Quiché calendar as Hun Ahpu, while the male
heads the list of months under the name of Imox.* Con-

33 ‘ Odlébres dans toutes les treditions d'origine pol eedne, comme les péres

hae et de la magic.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist, Nat, Civ., tom. i., p.

34 ¢ un-Ahpu- Vuch un Tireur de Sarbacane au Sarigue et Hun-Ahpu-Uliu
un Tireur de Sarbacane au Chacal,’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popl Vuh, pp.
exviii., cxix, pp. 2-5. ‘They are also referred to as conjurers, Jd., Hist, Nat.
Civ,, tom. i., p. 54. Ximenez spells the latter name Hun-ahpu-uhi, and
states that they are held as oracles. Hist. Ind. Guat., pp. 4, 156-8, 82. Las
Casas, Hist, Apologttica, MS., CaP oxxiv, refers to these beings as having
been adored under the name of grandfather and grandmother before the
deluge, but later on a woman appeared who taught them to call the gods by
other names. This woman, Brasseur de Bourbourg holds to be the tradi-
tional and celebrated queen Atit, from whom Atitlan volcano obtained its
name, and from whom the princely families of Guatemala have descended.
The natives still recall her name, but as that of a phantom, Hist, Nat. Civ.,
tom, ii, pp. 74-5. He further finds considerable similarity between her and
Aditi of the Veda. In his solution of the Antilles cataclysm he identifies
Xmucane as the South American part of the continent and Xpiyacoc as
North America, Quatre Lettres, pp, 223-4, 235-8. Garcia, Origen de los Ind.,
pp. 329-30, calls these first beings Xchmel and Xtmana, and gives them three
sons, who create all things. In the younger of these we recognize the two
pe oar sons of Hunhun Ahpu, who will be described later on as the patrons
of the fine arts,

TEPEU AND HURAKAN. 475

nected with them stands Tepeu, termed by the sacred
book Dominator, He who Begets, and whose name means
grand, majestic. Ximenez, by translating his name as
buboes, or syphilis, connects him with Nanahuatzin, the
Nahua hero who threw himself into the fire and rose as
the sun.” Tepeu is more generally known under the
name of Gucumatz, ‘feathercd snake,’ which is univer-
sally identified with Quetzalcoatl, the Nahua air god. In
this character he is said to transform himself every
seven days into four forms, snake, eagle, tiger, a mass
of coagulated blood, one after the other, and every
seven days he visits heaven and hell alternately. He
is also held to be the introducer of culture in Guatemala,
though more as one who directs man in his search for
improvement, than as a culture-hero.” These two gods
blending into one, often form a trinity with Hun Ahpu
Vuch and Hun Ahpu Utiu, under the one name of Gu-
cumatz, the Heart of Heaven. The assumption by this
god of four forms may have reference to the divine quar-
tette, and in the expression ‘‘they are enveloped in a
mist of green and azure,’ Brasseur de Bourbourg sees a
reference to the sacred bundle containing the four first
men and sacrifices, transformed into gods.”

Hurakan,” although connected with the above quar-
tette in the enumeration of titles of the supreme deity,
keeps aloof from the lower sphere in which these move
at times, and is even invoked by Gucumatz, who calls

35 To be aflicted with buboes implied the pogaeanion of many women and

consequently wealth and grandeur, Hist. In
60; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh., p. 3.

36 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh., p. 315, does not understand why
Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p, 125, translates heaven and Xibulba as heaven
and hell, but as both terms doubtless refer to provinces, or towns, it is better
to retain the figurative name. Xibalba is, besides, derived from the same
source as the Xibilba ‘demon’ of the Yucatecs, Brasseur translates: ‘ Cha-

ue sept (jours) il montait au ciel et en sept (jours) il faisait le chemin pour
deacancve ad Xibalba,’ while Ximenez with more apparent correctness renders:
‘Siete dias se subia al cielo y siete dias se iba alinfierno.’ In Quatre Let-
tres, p, 228, the Abbé explains Xibalba as hell. See also vol. ii., pp. 715-7,
of this work.

37 Popol Vuh., p. exvii.-oxx., 7, 9; see this vol., pp. 48-54. The occur
rence of the number 4in mythical and historical accounts of Mexico and
Central America is very sho

38 ‘ Parnit venir des Antilles, oh il désignait la tempéte et le grondement
de l'orage,’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh., p. 8.

Guat., p. 157; see this vol. p.

476 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

him, among other names, Creator, he who begets and
gives being. That he was held to be distinct, and wor-
shiped as such by the Quichés, may be seen from the
fact that they had one high-priest for Gucumatz, and an-
other for Tohil, another name of Hurakan, who seems to
have ranked a degree above the former.” He repre-
sented the thunder and lightning, and his particular title
seems to have been Heart of Heaven, under which were
included the three phases of his attribute, the thunder,
the lightning, and the thunderbolt, or, as stated in an-
other place, the flash, the track of the lightning, and the
thunderbolt,” another conception of a trinity. He is
also called Centre of the Earth and is represented with
thunder in his hand. The bird Voc was his messenger.
Miiller considers him a sun god, probably decause of his
title ‘Heart of Heaven,’ which determines nothing,
while others hold him to be identical with the
Tlalocs, the Mexican rain gods. He is doubtless the
same as Tohil, the leader of the Quiché gods, who is
represented by the sign of water, but whose name sig-
nifies rumble, clash.“' In him are also found united the
three symbols of Quiché trinity, as will be seen shortly,
and his priests address him: ‘Hail, Beauty of the
Day, Hurakan, Heart of Heaven and of Harth! Thou
who givest glory, riches and children! Thou Tohil,
Avilix, Gagavitz, Bowels of Heaven, Bowels of Earth !
Thou who dost constitute the four ends of Heaven!”
He was also god of fire, and as such gave his people fire
by shaking his sandals.“ According to the version of

39 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 496.

40 Garcilaso says: ‘C’est encore l’idée du Tonnerre, de 1’Eclair et do la
Foudre, contenus dans un seul Hurakan, le centre, le coeur du ciel, la tem-
péte, le vent, le souffle.’ Comentarios Reales, lib. ii., cap. xxiii., lib. iii., cap.
xxi., lib. iii.; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh., p. ccxxxv., 9; Id., Hist.
Nat. Civ., tom. i., ;

41 Ximenez dit qu’il signifie Pluie, Aversc: mais il confond ici le nom du

dieu avec le signe. Toh,....est rendu par le mot paga, paie, pagar, payer.
Mais le MS. Cakehiquel....dit que les Quichés recurent celui de Tohohil,

qui mgpite grondement, bruit,’ etc. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, p.
14, He seems identical with the Maya Hunpictok.
42 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p, 553, tom. i., p. 128.
43 Brinton, Myths, pp. 156-7, who holds Hurakan to be the Tlaloc, con-
nects Tohil with Quetzalcoatl—ideas taken most likely from Brasseur de
Bourbourg—states that he was represented by a flint. This must refer

HAVALITZ AND HACAVITZ. 477

Brasseur de Bourbourg, his temple at Utatlan, where he
seems to have taken the place of an ancient god, was a
truncated pyramid with extremely steep steps in the fa-
cade. On its summit was a temple of great height,
built of cut stone, and with a roof of precious woods; the
walls within and without were covered with fine, bril-
liant stucco of extreme hardness. In the midst of the
most splendid surroundings sat the idol, on a throne set
with precious stones. His priests perpetually prayed and
burnt precious incense before him, relieving each other
in bands of thirteen, so that while some attended to his
service, the others fasted to prepare for it. The chief
men of the kingdom also attended in bands of eighteen,
to invoke his blessing for them and their provinces, nine
fasting, while nine offered incense.“ ‘Tohil, and the
other members of the trinity, Avilix and Hacavitz, or
Gagavitz, who also represent the thunder, the lightning,
and the thunderbolt, were the family gods given by the
Creator to the founders of the Quiché race, and though
they afterwards became stone, they could still assume
other shapes in conformity with the supreme will. As
family gods they had special temples in the palace of
the princes, where their regular service was conducted,
and three mountain peaks bearing their names, served to
keep them before the people.” The flint with which
Brinton identifies Tohil may, perhaps, be the black stone
brought from the far east, and venerated in the temple
to his traditional transformation into a stone, for the Abbé declares, that no
description of his idol is given by the chroniclers. IHist, Nat. Civ., tom. ii.,
p. 552. Now, although the Abbé declares Tohil to be the same as Quetzal-
coatl, in the Pohol Vuh, B. 214, and other places, he acknowledges that
the tradition positively identifies him with Hurakan, and confirms this
by explaining on p. cclxvii., that Tohil, sometimes in himself, sometimes in
connection with the two other members of the trinity, combines the attri-
butes of thinder, flash, and thunderbolt; further, he gives a prayer by the
Tohil priests in which this god is addressed as Hurakan, Hist. Nat. Civ.,
tom. ii., p. 553. Gucumatz, the acknowledged representative of Quetzalco-
atl, is, besides, shown to be distinct from Tohil. Every point, therefore,
tradition, name, attributes, connect Tohil and Hurakan, and identify them
with Tlaloc.

44 Hist, Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 552-3,

45 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, p. celxvii., 235; Id., Hist Nat. Civ.,

tom. ii., p. 554. The turning into stone ‘veut dire que les trois principaux
voleans s'éteignirent ou cessérent de lancer leurs feux.’ Jd., Quatre Lettres,

p. 331.

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if
i

Hi
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j

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478 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

of Kahba, ‘house of sacrifice,’ at Utatlan. but there is
no confirmation by the chroniclers. It is, besides, stated
that the worship of Kahba had greatly declined, but
was again restored to something like its former glory by
Gucumatz; Tohil, on the other hand, always stood
high, and his high-priest belonged to a different family.”
A. similar stone existed in a temple situated in a deep
ravine near Iximche, in whose polished face the gods
made known tieir will. This stone was often used to
determine the fate of those accused of crime; if the
judges perceived no change in the stone the prisoner
went free.”

We now come to the heroes with whose adventures the
Popol Vuh is chiefly occupied. From the union ¢? the
Grandfather and Grandmother who head the list of
Quiché deities, proceeded two sons, Hunhun Ahpu and
Vukab Hun Ahpu.* They incur the suspicion and
hatred of the princes of Xibalba, who plan their down-
fall and for this purpose invite them to their court, under
the pretence of playing a game of ball with them. On
their arrival they are subjected to various indignities
and finally condemned to lose their heads. The head
of Hunhun Ahpu is placed between the withered
branches of a calabash-tree; but lo! a miracle takes
place; the tree immediately becomes laden with fruit
and the head turnsinto a calabash. Henceforth the tree
is held sacred and the king commands that none shall
touch it. Xquiq, however, a royal princess, Hve-like,
disregards the injunction, and approaches to pluck the
fruit. As she stretches forth her arm, Hunhun Ahpu
spits into her hand, and Xquiq finds herself pregnant.
Hier father soon perceives her condition, and in a fury
condemns her to death, telling the executioners to bring
him the heart of his daughter to prove that they have

46 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 497, 75; Id., Popol
Vuh, p. celxii.; see note 7,

‘7 Id., Hist, Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 621; Juarros’ Hist. OU 384.

48 * Hunhun-Ahpu signifie Chaque Tireur de Sarbacane; Vukub-Hun-Ahpu,
Sept un Tireur de Sarbacane.’ Brasseur de Bourboury, Popol Vuh, p. cxxxv.

Their chief name Ahpu ‘ désigne la puissance volcanique.’ Id., Quatre Let-
tres, p. 225.

ADVENTURES OF XQUIQ, HUN AHPU, AND XBALANQUE. 479

done their duty. While being led to the wood Xquiq
pleads earnestly for her life, and finally prevails upon
her executioners to deceive her father by substituting for
her heart the jelly-like resin of a tree, which she pro-
cures. Xquiq proceeds to Utatlan, to the Grandmother,
Xmucane, and gives birth to the twins Hun Ahpu and
Xbalanque,” who develop rapidly; their superior talents
soon make their elder brothers jealous, and they attempt
their destruction, but the twins anticipate their designs
and transform them into apes. These brothers Hun
Batz and Hun Chouen, were the sons of Hunhun Ahpu
by Xbakiyalo, and were invoked as the patrons of the
fine arts®. Brasseur de Bourbourg explains this myth by
saying that Hunhun Ahpu denotes the Nahua immi-
grants who by their superiority gain the women of the
country, and whose children carry on a successful strug-
gle with the aboriginal race. The continuance of the
contest and the triumph of the Nahuas is described in
the adventures of Hun Ahpu and Xbalanque. A rat
reveals to them their origin, and the place where the
ball-game implements of their father are hidden. They
play a match with the Xibalba princes who had chal-
lenged their father, and are successful in th::, as well as
several herculean tasks assigned to them, but are never-
theless burned." The ashes, thrown into the water, are
transformed into two handsome young men, and then
into man-fishes, a reference, perhaps, to the arrival by
sea of allies to help them. Again they make their ap-
pearance in Xibalba, this time as conjurers, and lay

49 Hun Ahpu, a sarbacan shooter, ‘ Xbalenque, de balam, tigre, jaguar; le
que final est un signe pluriel, et le x qui précéde, prononcez sh (anglais), est
alternativement un diminutif ou un signe féminin.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg,
Popol Vuh, p. exxxv. Ximenez, fist. Ind. Guat., pp. 146-7, 156, remarks the
similarity of these personages to the God son and virgin of the Christians.

50 ‘Hun-Batz, Un Singe (ou un Fileur); Hun-Chouen, un qui se blanchit,
ou s’embellit.’ They seem to correspond to the Mexican Ozomatli and Pilt-
zintecutli. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, PP. exxxv., 69,117. The bain
Hun-Batz refers to something underground, or deep down, and Hun-Chouen
‘“*Une Souris cachée’’ ou ‘un lac en sentinelle.’’’ Both names indicate
the disordered condition and movement of a region (the Antilles). Id.,
Quatre Lettres, pp. 227-9.

51 ‘Tes deux fréres, s’étant embrass¢s, s’élancent dans les flammes.’
Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., p. 137,

480 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

their plans so skillfully as to overthrow the Prince Vu-
kub Cakix with his adherents, and obtain the apoth-
eosis of their father and his adherents as sun, moon,
and stars. Vukub Cakix, who represents the sun,
may be taken as the representative of an older
sun-worship replaced by the newer, cult introduced by
Hun Ahpu.” The burning of this hero agrees with
that of the Mexican Nanahuatzin who by this act be-
came a sun. In fact, Brasseur de Bourbourg considers
the whole as a version of the Nahua myth. From an-
other point of view Hun Ahpu, whose name, signifying
‘sarbacan-blower or air-shooter,’ suits the attribute of
the air-god, may be considered as the morning wind
dispersing the clouds and disclosing the splendors of the
sun.”

In the Quatre Lettres, the Abbé takes another view
of the myth, and sees in it but a version of the con-
vulsions that take place in the Antilles, the Seven Grot-
tos of the Mexican myth, of which I have spoken in
a preceding chapter. Hunkun Ahpu, Vukub Hun
Ahpu, and the two legitimate sons of the former are
volcanoes, and their plays, death, and transformation,
are earthquakes, extinction, and upheavals. The burn-
ing of Hun Ahpu and Xbalanque and the scattering of
their ashes upon the waters is the final catastrophe, the
sinking of the Atlantides, or the seven islands; and as
the brothers rise again in the form of beautiful young
men, so do new islands take the place of those de-

52 Vukub Cakix, ‘seven aras,’ a type of the sun, although declared in
one pate to have usurped the solar attribute, seems to have been worshiped
as the sun; his two sons, Zipacna and Cabrakan, represent respectively
the creator of the earth and the earthquake, which confirms their father’s
high position. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, pp. 31-9, criv., ccliii.

53 The allegorical account of these events is related on py 31 to 192 of
Popol Vuh, and Brasseur’s remarks are given on pages cxxxiv. © cxl. Juar-
ros, Hist. Guat., p. 164, states that Hun Ahpu discovered the . 9° of cacao
and cotton, which is but another indication of the introduc’ 1 of cul-
ture. According to Las Casas, Xbalanque descends into he Xibalba,
where he captures Satan and his chief men, and when the dev. ‘mplores
the hero not to bring him to the light, he kicks him back with ‘\e curse
that all things rotten and abhorrent may cling to him. When here, :ns, his
people do not receive him with due honor, and he RoRORe EY lh ves for
other parts. Hist. Apologética, MS., cap. cxxiv,; Torguemada, Mon: ;. Ind.,
tom. il., pp. 53-4. ;

QUICHE GODS. 481

stroyed. Theconfirmation of this he finds in a tradition
current on the islands, which speaks of certain upheavals
similar to the above.™

The Quichés had a multitude of other gods and genii,
who controlled the elements and exercised their influence
upon the destiniesof man. The places where they most
loved to linger were dark quiet spots, in the undis-
turbed silence of the grotto, at the foot of some steep
precipice, beneath the shade of mighty trees, especially
where a spring trickled forth between its roots, and on
the summit of the mountains; and here the simple native
came to pour out his sorrow, and to offer his sacrifice.
In some places this idea of seclusion was carried tosuch
an extent that idols were kept hidden in subterranean
chapels, that they might not be disturbed or the people
become too familiar with them; another reason, however,
was to prevent their being stolen by other villagers. The
god of the road had sanctuaries, called mumah, all along
the highways, especially at the junctions, and the trav-
eler in passing never failed torub his legs with a hand-
ful of grass, upon which he afterwards spat with great
respect, and deposited it upon the altar together with a
small stone, believing that this act of piety would give
him renewed strength. He als» left a small tribute
from his stock of food or merchandise, which remained
to decay before the idol, for none dared to remove it.
This custom was also observed in Nicaragua.

The household gods were termed chahatha, ‘guardian
of the house,’ and to them incense was burned and sac-
rifice made during the erection of a building; when
finished, a corner in the interior was consecrated to their
use. They seem to have been identified with the spirit
of departed friends, for occasionally a corpse was buried
beneath the house to insure their presence.”

Among the more superstitious highlanders, the ancient
bie has retained its hold upon the population to a

tre Lettres, pp. 225-53; see this vol. 261-4.
in one eoanien I the people ‘égorgérent chacun un de leurs fils, dont

ils mirent les cadavres dans les fondations.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist.
Nat, Civ., ee Ae » pp. 561-4.

482 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

great extent, in spite of the efforts of the padres. Scher-
zer tells us that the people of Istlavacan reverenced gods
of reason, health, sowing, and others, under the names
of Noj, Ajmak, Kanil, and Ik, who were generally
embodied in natural features, as mountains, or big
trees. They recognized an Ormuzd and an Ahriman in
Kij, the god of light and good principle, opposed by
Juiup, the god of earth and evil principle, who was rep-
resented by a rock, three feet high and one foot thick,
supposed to be a distorted human face. The native
priests generally took the horoscope, and appointed a
nagual, or guardian spirit for their children, before
the padres were allowed to baptize them. They are
said to have sacrificed infants, scattering their heart's
blood. upon a stone before the idol, and burying the body
in the woods to avoid detection.”

The Choles and Manches of Vera Paz, impressed with
the wild features of their country, venerated the mount-
ains, and on one called Escurruchan, which stood at the
junction of several branches of their principal river, they
kept up a perpetual fire to which passers-by added fuel,
and at which sacrifices were offered, At another place
the padres found a rough altar of stone and clay sur-
rounded by a fence, where they burned torches of black
wax and resinous wood, and offered fowls, and blood
from their bodies, to mountains, cross-roads and pools in
the river, whence came all means of existence and all
increase.”

The chief idol of the Itzas was Hubo, who was
represented by a hollow metal figure with an opening
between the shoulders, through which human. beings
were passed, charged to implore the favors of the gods.
A fire, was then lighted beneath the figure, and while
the victims were roasting alive, their friends joined in

56 Indianer ‘von Istidvacan, pp. 11-3. The natives believed that they
would have to obere al the sufferings and emotions of their naguuls, Gage's
New AY, Bi Se Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib, viii., cap. iv., also re-
fers to naguals, and states that the Honduras us prod made his compact with
it.in the mountains by oe and blood

oT inosa, Chron.

hry "eononi, Hist, Ch 726;
Villagutierre, Hist. Cong. Itsa, a 161-3, -siiiaa 4

ot with

Dd. 726;

- WORSHIP OF: & HORSE. 2 483

a dance around it, drowning the cries of. the. victims
with shouts and rattling of drums. .No: women were
allowed to join in the temple ceremonies. On the chief
island in the lake of Peten, the oomanercns found twenty-
formed a kind of pyramid of, nine.steps. . In. this: was
found a large chalchiuite, representing one of their two
battle-gods, Pakoc and Hunchunchan, who gave oracles
and were supposed. to join the people in their. dances.
This familiarity evidently bred contempt, however, for
it is. related that when a prediction of the oracle was
not fulfilled, the priest without hesitation castigated
the idol. In the same temple stood a gypsum image
in the form of the sun, adorned with rays, inlaid. with
nacar, and having a gaping. mouth set. with:.human
teeth. ‘The bones of a. horse, which hung from the
rafters, were adored as sacred relics. These were: the
remains of a wounded -horse left by Cortés among the
natives when on his way. to, Honduras. . Having: seen
the Spaniards fire from its back, they believed ‘that

the animal produced the flash and. report, and hence

adored. it as Tziminchac, god of thunder, and brought
it’ flowers, flesh,,and incense; but. such offerings did
not sustain life, and it was not long before the bones
of the apotheosized charger: were all that remained to
his worshipers. In another place was a stone and lime
imitation of this horse, seated on ‘the floor.on itshaunches,
which the natives adored in, the same manner,. This
animal-worship. was the more readily. admitted, since
their gods was supposed to assume such forms.”
Their idols were so numerous, say , the conquerors,
that it took over a hundred men a whole day to, destro
those existing on the chief island alone; Cogolludo
affirms that the priests had charge of all the idols.” The
chief god of the Cakchiquels, Chamalcan, or Chimala-

“ ‘Tenian por sus Dioses A los Venados.’ Villagutierre, Hist, Cong, Ilsa,
20 Hist. Yuc., pp. 60%, 489-93, 509; Villagutierre, Hist, Ciing, Itza, pp.

oF
100-2, 182, 500-2; Morelet, Voycoe, tom, Hoe: pr wa M Wwioh A, iawn
in Amer, .» p. 318,

484 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

can,” had many of the attributes of Tohil, but took the
form of a bat, the symbol of the royal house of Zotzil.
Every seventh and thirteenth day of the month the
priests placed before him bloodstained thorns, fresh white
resin, bark and branches of pine, and a cat, the emblem
of night, which were burned in his honor.“

The purest form of sun-worship appears among the
Lacandones, who adored the luminary without the
intervention of an image, and sacrificed before it in
the Mexican fashion. ‘They had temples, however, the
walls of which were decorated with hieroglyphs of the
sun and moon, and with a figure in the act of praying
to the sun.* The Nahua tribe of the Pipiles also wor-
shiped the sun, before which they prostrated themselves
while offering incense and muttering invocations. Quet-
zalcoatl and the goddess Itzcueye were honored in the
sacrifice,” which generally consisted of a deer. The
relative importance of Quetzalcoatl and Itzcueye, may
be seen from the statement that the festival held
in honor of the former on certain occasions lasted
fifteen days, while that in honor of the latter was but
of five days duration. The chief centre of worship
was at Mictlan, near Huixa Lake, where now is the
village of Santa Maria Mita, founded, according to tra-
dition, by an old man, who in company with an ex-
ceedingly beautiful girl issued from the lake, both dressed
in long blue robes, the man also wearing a mitre.
He seated himself upon a stone on the hill, while the
girl pursued her way and disappeared, and here, by his
order, was built the temple of Mictlan, round which
stately palaces afterwards arose; he also organized the
government of the place.

© * Cha-maivcan serait fons ch ppe ate ou Dard frotté d’ocre jaune,’ etc. Bras-

seur de Bourbou Ba
He W., ~~ Min Leu! sate,

ing rng tous sage vg a Bragseur
Wut Ctv., tom, i
* L'époque que les arintactd hn yg mas
coincide avec la période de la grande émigration toltéque et la Mea tion

TRADITION OF COMIZAHUAL. 485

Among the vestiges of older worship we find the na-
tives of Cerquin in Honduras,” venerating and praying
for health to two idols, called respectively Great Father
and Great Mother, which probably refer to. the Grand-
father and Grandmother of the Quichés, A faint idea
of a Supreme Being, says Torquemada, was mixed. up

with the worship of the sun and stars, to which sacrifices

were made. Their culture-tradition speaks of a beauti-
ful white woman, called Comizahual, or ‘flying tigress,’
@ reputed sorceress, as the introducer of civilization, in
Cerquin. She is said to have descended from heaven
and to have been transported by an invisible hand to
the city of Cealcoquin, where she built a palace adorned
with monstrous figures of men and animals, and placed
in the chief temple a stone having on each of its three
sides three faces of strange and hideous aspect; by aid
of this stone she conquered her enemies. She remained
a virgin, yet three sons were born to her,® among whom
she divided the kingdom when she grew old. After
arranging her affairs, she commanded her attendants to
carry her on her bed to the highest part of the palace,
whence she suddenly disappeared amid thunder and
lightning, doubtless to resume her place among the gods;
directly afterwards a beautiful bird was seen to fly up-
wards and disappear. The people erected a temple in
her honor, where the priest delivered her oracles, and
celebrated every year the anniversary of her disappear-
ance with great feasts. Palacio refers to a stone, like
the one with three faces, named Icelaca, in Cezori, whigh
disclosed things past, present, and future, and before
which the people sacrificed fowls, rabbits and various

des divers ro noes témaliens.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist, Nat. Civ.,
tom, ii., 1; +“ Vuh, p. exxviii. Near the village of Coatan
Mie @ small lake so they regn' ed as oracular, into which none dared

‘0 peer least he should be smitten with dumbness and death. Palacio, Carta,

Pp.

‘Aujourd’hui de Gracias....Il y a encore anjourd’s nel un he ng ty
oe 0m, Poe 4121. de Comayagua.’ Brasseur de

v., tom

@ Atinge oe Ee dicen, que eran sus Hermanos,’ Turquemada, Monarg.
Ind, tom

486 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

kinds of food, and smeared the face with blood drawn
from the generative organs.”

The religious fervor of the people is shown by the fact
that whatever work they undertook they commenced ‘by
sanctifying it with prayers and offerings and by incens-
ing their implements that they might acquire more
efficacy; thus, before commencing to sow, the laborers
killed a turkey whose blood tney scattered over the
field, and performed other ceremonies.” Simple in their
mode of life, they did not importune the gods for vain
luxuries: their prayers were for long life, health, child-
ren, and the necessaries of life. The first they hoped
to obtain by scarifications and penances; to guard
against disease, they sent the priest a bird, generally a
quail, to sacrifice. When actually attacked by sickness
confession was resorted to as a powerful means of pro-
pitiation, as was also the case on all important occasions
to secure divine blessings and avert immediate danger.
It is related by an old chronicler that when a party of
travelers met a jaguar or puma, each one immediately
commended himself to the gods and confessed in a loud
voice the sins he had committed, imploring pardon. If
the object of their terror still advanced upon them, they
cried, “‘we have committed as many more sins, do not
kill us!” and sat down, saying one to another, “one of
us has done some grievous deed, and him the wild beast
will kill!"

In their scarifications, those who drew the most blood,
especially from the secret organs, were held to be the
most pious. Among the Pipiles the women joined in
drawing blood from the ears and tongue, and smearing

67 Carta, pp. 82-4. As an instance of the respect entertained for the
idols, /:c2 Casas relates that on the Spaniards once profaning them with
their touch, <4e nutives brought censers with which they incensed them, and
then carried them back to their altar with great respect, shesting their
blood ypom the road traversed by the idols, Hist, Apologética, MS.. cap.
clxxx.; Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. i., 326; Herrera, Hist, Gen., dec.
iv., lib. vili., cap. iv.

See vol. ii. of this work, PP. 719-20.

' ® Roman, Republica de los Indioa, in Ximenes, Hist. Ind. Guat,, pp. 176- .
81; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist, Nat.Civ., tom, ii., pp. 564-506; Las Casas,
Hist, Apologética, M8., cap. clxxix.; Juarros, Hist, Guat., p. 196,

SPECIAL FASTS. 487

iton cotton, offered it to Quetzalcoatl, and then to
Itzcueye.” On extraordinary occasions, as in the event
of a public calamity, the priests and. chief men held 4
council to determine the propitiatory penance to be im-
posed on the people, and the kind of sacrifice to be
offered ; the Ahgih were called upon to trace magic circles
and figures, and to cast grains, so as to determine the
time when it should be made. The esteemed task of
collecting the fuel for this celebration devolved upon a
royal prince, who formed the boys of the district into
bands to forage for the wood. ‘The efforts of the people
alone were not considered sufficient at such times to
propitiate the gods; it required the sanctified presence
and powerful influence of the high priest to secure
remission of sins. This personage, whether king or
pontiff, subjected himself to a very severe fast and
penance during the twenty, or even hundred days de-
termined upon. He removed to an arbor near the hid-
den sanctuary of the idols, and lived in entire solitude,
subsisting on grains and fruit, touching no food pre-
pared by fire, sacrificing the offerings brought him
during the day, and drawing blood. The fast over, with
its attendant separation of man and wife, bathing, paint-
ing in red, and other acts of penance, the nobles went
in a body ‘to the retreat of the idols, and having adorned
them in the most splendid manner, conducted them in
procession to the town, attended by the high priest and
victims. In places where the idols were kept in the
temples of the town, they marched with them round
the city. The various rites closed with games of ball,
played under the supervision of the idols, and with
feasting «nd _ reveling.”

The Popol Vuh ascribes the introduction of human
sacrifices to Tohil, who exacted this offering from the
first four men in return for the fire given to the Qui-

chés, while Las Casas states that Xbalanque initiated’

7 The ancient pen _seneigent leur sang avec des éponges,’ Dras-
seur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, pe

™ Brasseur de Bourbourg Nat. Ctv., tom. ii., pp. 559-63; by Casas,
Hist. Apologética, MBS., cap, " oluxvii.; +} vol. ii. of this work, pp. 688,

488 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

them. Their knives of sacrifice, he says, had fallen
from heaven, and were accordingly adored as ‘hands of
God,’ and set in rich handles of gold or silver, orns-
mented with turquoises and emeralds. ‘The ordinazy
sacrifices occurred several times a month, and. among the
Pipiles, the number and quality were indicated by the
calendar and consisted chiefly of bastard boys from six
to twelve years of age. Their most solemn offerings
were made at the commencement and end of the rains,
and were attended by the chief men only. Juarros
states that human sacrifices were not offered by the
Pipiles and that the attempt of caciques to introduce them
resulted in an insurrection; and, although this will
scarcely apply to later times, it seems that formerly
the sacrifices were very few in number. The Cakchi-
quels are, however, said to have abstained from the
rite. Cortés relates that at Acalé the fairest girls to
be found were selected by the priests and brought up,
in strict chastity, to be sacrificed, at the proper time, to
the goddess of the place. The Itzas, who when captives
failed took the fattest of .heir young men for victims,
had several modes of immolation, as roasting the vic-
tims alive in the metal image; dispatching them with
the knife on the stone of sacrifice, a large one of which
was found at Taysal; impalement, followed by extraction
of the heart, as at Prospero; and in earlier times shoot-
ing, 28 was done by their Yucatec ancestors. According
to Cogolludo, three persons assisted ‘at the sacrifices,
the adkulel, master of ceremonies, the adkayom, and a
virgin who must be the daughter of one of these; but
Villagutierre mentions that the stone of sacrifice at the
chief temple at Taysal, was surrounded by twelve seats
fur the attendant priests; and assistants to hold the vic-
tims were certainly required. Cannibalism seems to
have attended all these sacrifices, the flesh being boiled
and seasoned, and the choice bits reserved for the high
priests and chiefs.”

Brassey

us] Popol Vuh, 996-7; Las Casas, Hist, Apolo-
gétioa, pay iad

Bourbourg, 5
oriv,, cluxvii.; Juarros’ Hist, Guat., p. 226; Torquemadu,

THE PRIESTS OF GUATEMALA. 489

Each of the numerous tribes of Guatemala had a dis-
tinct and separate body of priests, who by means of their
oracles ‘exercised a decided influence on the state, and
some, the Quichés for instance, were spiritually governed
by independent pontiffs. The high priests. of Tohil and
Gucumatz, Ahau Ah Tohil and Ahau Ah Gucumatz,
belonged to the royal house of Cawek, and held the fourth
and fifth rank respectively among the grandees of the
Empire; Ahau-Avilix, the high-priest of Avilix, was a
member of the Nihaib family; Ahau Gagavitz came of
the Ahau Quiché house; and the two high-priests of the
Kahba temple in Utatlan were of the Zakik house, and
each had a province allotted him for his support. The
Tohil priests were vowed to perpetual continence and
austere ‘penitence, and were not permitted to taste meat
or bread.” The pontiff at Mictlan, in Salvador, who stood
on nearly the same level as the king, bore the title of
Teoti, ‘divine’ “ and was distinguished by a long blue
robe, a diadem, and a baton like an episcopal cross; on
solemn occasions he substituted a mitre of beautiful
feathers for the diadem. Next to him came an ecclesi-
astical council composed of the Tehuamatlini chief of the
astrologers and learned priests, who acted as lieuten-
ant of the high priest, and superintended the writings
and divinations, and four other priests, teopiagui, who
dressed in different colors. These ruled the rest of the
priesthood, composed of keepers of properties, sacrificers,
watchers, and the ordinary priests, termed teupas, who
were all appointed by the high-priests from the sons of

Monargq. Ind., tom. ii., p. 54; Palacio, Carta, e. 66; Squier, iS sal ge i

Cortés, Cartas, pp. 417-8; Cogolludo, Hist. Yuc., fi 699; mee Hist,
Conq. Itea, Pp. 92, 502; Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 268; Waldeck, Voy. Pitt.,

. 40; see also, this vol. pp. 688-9, 706-10, 735; Stephen's Vent. Amer., vol.
a pp. 184-5. Ximenez, Hist. Ind. Guat., p. 210, states, that in case of a
severe illness, a father would not hesitate to sacrifice his son to obtain relief.
ba very fact of such a tale passing current, shows how little human life was
valued.

73 ‘Ts n’avaient pour toute nourriture que des fruits.’ MS., Quiché de
Chichtcastenango, in Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist, Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 552-
553, 496-7; Las Casas, Hist, Apologética, MS., cap. cxxzxiii.

% Ternaux-Co npans renders it tuti, “Recueil de Doc., p. 29, while Squier
err it as mn Palacio, Carta, p. 62, Butasan Aztec word, it ought to be
writ‘ en tevti,

490 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

the ministers. When the high-priest died, the body
was embalmed and placed in a crypt beneath the palace.
After fifteen days of mourning, attended by fasts, the
king and Tehuamatlini drew lots for his successor ‘from
among the four teopixqui, the vacancy in their ranks
being filled by a son of the pontiff, or one of their own
sons. ‘The elected purified himself for the office by
blood-letting and other observances, while the people
celebrated his accession with feasting and dancing. In
Vera Paz the chief priest was elected according to merit
from a certain family by the people, and ranked next
to the king.” As an instance of the lasting influence
possessed by the priesthood over the people, Scherzer
relates that at Istlivacan there were a few years ago
as many as sixty priests, diviners, and medicine-men,
Ahgih, Ahqixb, and Ahqahb, as they used to be termed,
who exercised their offices among them. At Cobun,
says Villagutierre, a priest was so highly respected that
the person who presumed to touch him was expected to
fall dead immediately.”

The Nahua impress, noticeable in the languages and
customs of Nicaragua, is still more strongly marked in
the mythology of that country.” Instead of obliterating
the older forms of worship, however, as it seems to have
done in the northern part of Central America, it has
here and there passed by many of the distinct beliefs
held by ditierent tribes, and blended with the chief ele-
ment of a system which is traced to the Muyscas in
South America. The inquiries instituted by a Spanish
friar among different classes of people in the Nagrando
district go to prove that Tamagostat” and Cipattonal,

% Palacio, Carta, pp. 62-6; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iv., lib. viii., cap. x.;
Ximenez, Hist Py "Guat., pp. 200-1; Brasseur de "Bourbourg, “att . Nat cie.,
tom. ii., peed 5, 555-6; Salazar y Olarte, Hist, Vong. Mez., Ng has

16 Gong. Itza, p. 61; Brasseur de i dank Popol Vuh, pp. ; oxviii.,
colxvi.; Scherzer, Indianer von yep arvety 4 p.

77 Gomara says with regard to this: ‘ ielgion de Nicaragua que casi es la
mesma Mexicana.’ Hist. Ind., fol. a0.

78 The similarity of the name of tamachas and tamagast, names given to
angels and priests, is striking. The ending tat might also be regarded as a
contruction of the Aztec tutli, father, Buschmann, Ortsnamen, pp. 164-5.

GODS OF THE NICABAGUANS. 491

male and female deities who inhabit the regions of the
rising sun, were the supreme beings: They created all
things, stars as well as mortals, and re-created what
had been destroyed by the flood, in which work they
were aided by Hcalchot, surnamed Huehue, ‘the aged,’
and Ciagat ‘the little.’ In Tamagostat Miiller at once
recognizes Fomagata, the ancient sun-god of the Muyscas,
who after his dethronement by a newer solar deity be-
came more particularly the fire-god of that people, but
retained more of his original preéminence in the
countries to which his worship spread, as in Nicaragua.
This view is supported by the statement that he in-
habited the heavens above, or rather the region of sun-
rise. His consort Cipattonal, Miiller, judging from
their relationship, holds to be the moon; her name seems
however, to be derived’from a Mexican source, probably
from «wipalli, ‘dark blue color,’ and tonalii, ‘sun,’” which
may be construed as referring to the sun in its blue
element, or, as the fainter sun, to the moon. In either
case the connection of the two is perfectly legitimate.
Kealchot, who is represented as a young man, yet is
surnamed ‘the aged,’ seems to be the same as the Mexi-
can Ehecatl, ‘wind, air,’ an element ever young, yet ever
old, and Ciagat may mean ‘moisture; both forming with
the sun the fertilizing forces that create." Oviedo gives
the names of these deities as T'amagostat or Tamagostad,
Zipattoval or Zipattonal, Calchithuehue, and Chicozi-
agat,” ‘father.’ He further names Chiquinaut and Hecat
as gods of the winds, which seems to be merely another
version of Chicoziagat and Ehecatl.”

79 Buschmann, Ortsnamen, p. 163.

80 ‘Ich bringe es in Verbindung mit dem Stammworte ciahua oder ciyahua
befeuchten, bewdssern.’ /b. It is to be noticed that the Aztec h frequently
changes into q, in these countries.

8! Miller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, pp. 435-8, 503; Squier’s Nicaragua,
(Ed. 1856), vol. ii., pp. 349-60; Brasseur de Bourboury, Hist. Nut. Civ., tom.
ii., p. 112—this author identifies Tamagostat and Cipaltona with the solar
deities Oxomoc and Cipactonal of the Toltecs, but plices them in rather
an inferior position.

88 Oxomogo is also introduced, which tends to throw doubt on Brasseur’s
identification of Jamagostad with thie personage.

8 *Ehecatl oder verkirzt Ecatl....ist die Berichtigung fiir Oviedo's
aa Buschmann, Ortsnamen, p. 163; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., toi. iv., pp. 40-5,

492 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

The Guatemalan trinity reappears in the character of
Omeyateite and Omeyatezigoat™—easily recognizable
in the Mexican Ometecutli and Omecihuatl—and their
son Ruiatcot, the rain god,® who sends forth thunder,
lightning and rain. They are also supposed to live
where the sun rises, doubtless because that seems the
abode of bliss, and as fertilizing forces they are regarded
as creators, but not connected with the two before men-
tioned. Quiateot was the most prominent, if not the
supreme, member of the trinity, for the other two, as
representing the thunder and lighting, the forerunners,
or parents, of the showers, do not seem to have been in-
voked when rain was wanted, or to have participated in
the sacrifices of young boys and girls offered on such
occasions.”

The Nicaraguans had other deities presiding over the
elements, seasons, and necessaries of life. Thus, Macat
and Toste, also written Mazat and Teotost,” the deer
and rabbit, were gods of the chase. When a deer was
killed, the hunter placed the head in a basket in his
house, and regarded it as the representation of the god.
Mixcoa was the god invoked by the traders, and those
about to make purchases; Cacaguat was the patron of
cacao-culture; Miquetanteot, god of hades, was evidently
the same as Mictlantecutli of Mexico; there were, besides,
others whose names have been given to the days of the
month. In Martiari the chief deity was called Tipotani.
In Nicaragua proper, they adored Tomaoteot, ‘ the
great god,’ whose son Teotbilche was sent down to man-
kind. This looks like another Christ-myth, especially
when we read of attendant angels who had wings and

In Ternaue-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. iii., p. 40, they are written
Homey-Atelite and Homey-Ateciguat, but the above spelling corresponds
ere bo other similar Aztec names in Nicaragua. Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom.
v., p. 46.
a Von quiahui oder quiyahui regnen: mit teotd Gott verbunden.’ Busch-
mann, Orisnamen, p. 167.

86 O , Hist, Gen., tom. iv., p. 46,

87 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat, Civ., tom. ii,, p. 113. The latter
seems to be the same as the Mexican Teotochtli, ‘rabbit god.’
; 88 & gang tenemos por el dios de los venados.’ Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom.
v., p. 55.

THE GODDESS OF THE VOLCANO. 498

flew about in heaven. The names of the two chicf
angels were T'araacazcati and Tamacaztobal.” The Di-
rans revered in particular the goddess of the volcano
Masaya; for her they placed food on the brink of the
crater, into which they cast human beings, especially
when she manifested her anger by earthquakes. On
such occasions the chiefs and priests, who alone were
permitted to look into the seething abyss, went to the
summit and called upon the genius, who issued from the
lake of fire in the form of an old woman and instructed
them what to do. She is described as a naked, dark-
skinned hag, with hanging breasts, scanty hair, long,
sharp teeth, and sunken glaring eyeballs. The gods
were invested. with all the peculiarities of humanity,
formed of flesh and blood, and lived on the food pro-
vided for man, besides blood and incense. They also
appeared on earth dressed like the natives, but since the
death of the cacique Xostoval these visits ceased.” They
were personified by idols of stone, clay, or wood, called
teobat," whose forms their forefathers had transmitted ;
to them were brought offerings of food and other things,
which were taken in at the door of the temple by boys
serving there, for none except the consecrated were
allowed to enter the sanctuary.” Toencourage the piety
that prompted these offerings, the priests never failed to
remind the people of the punishment inflicted on the in-
habitants of the ancient capital of Nagrando, who hav-
ing given themselves up to the pursuit of pleasure, and
neglected the gods, were one night swallowed up, not a
vestige of their city being left.“ The most acceptable
offering was, of course, human blood. At certain times

89 All probably derived from tlamacazqui, priest. Brasseur de Bourbourg,
Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 112-4. ‘This author, following Oviedo, Hist.
Nic., spells the names somewhat differently. Buschmann, Ortsnamen, pp. 165-
8; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 48, 52, 101,

% These remarks appear incunsistent with the statement that the spirit
only of men ascendeil to heaven. Id., pp. 41-2, :

% * Téobat vient problement de Téohuall, étre divine.’ Brasseur de Bour-
bourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., Pp. 113. : :

% * En toda la placa, ni en el templo donde estén, entran all{ hombre ni
muger en tanto que alli estén, sino solamente los muchachos pequefios que

les llevan é dan de comer.’ Oviedo, Hist. Gen.. tum. iv., p. 47.
%3 Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. i., p. 330.

494 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

the favorite idol was set on a spear and planted in an
open place amid gorgeously adorned attendants holding
banners, and flowers. Here the priests gashed their
tongues, and other parts, smearing the face of the image
with the blood that flowed, while the devout approached
to whisper their desires into the ear of the idol. Songs,
dances, and games attended these ceremonies.

Before each temple was a conic or pyramidal mound
of adobe, called ¢escuit, or tezarit, ascended by an interior
staircase.“ From its summit, upon which there was
room for about ten men to stand, the priest proclaimed
the nature of the approaching festival, and the kind of
sacrifice to be made, and here, upon a stone block, the
victims, generally captives and slaves, had their hearts
cut out, after which they were decapitated, the body to
be cut up and prepared for the grand banquets, while
the head, if that of a captive, was hung on a tree near the
temple, a particular tree being reserved for each tribe
from whom the victims were captured. The most prized
victims were young boys and girls, who were brought
up by the chiefs for the purpose and treated with great
care and respect wherever they went, for they were sup-
posed to become deified after death and to exercise great
influence over the affairs of life. Women, who were
held to be unworthy to perform any duty in connection
with the temples, were immolated outside the temple
ground of the large sanctuaries, and even their flesh was
unclean food for the high-priest, who accordingly ate
only of the flesh of males.”

Fasts and baptismal rites, so prominent hitherto, do
not appear to have been practiced in Nicaragua. A
kind of sacrament was administered, however, by means
of maize sprinkled with blood drawn from the generative
organs, and confession was a recognized institution. The

& Peter Martyr describes this edilice as follows: ‘Within the vier;e of
of their Temples there are diuers Bases or Pillers like the Pulpities..
which Bases consist of eight steppes or stayres in some places twelue, and
in another fifteene,’ Dec. vi., lib. ‘vi.

% Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom, iv., RP. 46-7, 53, 56, 93-4, 98, 101; Peter Mar-

yr, dec. vi., lib. vii. ;,@omara, Ind.,. fol, 265-6; Herrera, Hist. Gen.,
ec., iii,, lib. iv., cap. vii.; vol. ii., pp. 708-10, 715, of this work.

mors 3

an
~~

etceae Oe OW OY 2 OC ee aS

PRIESTS OF NICARAGUA. 495

confessor was chosen from among the most aged and
respected citizens; a calabash suspended from the neck
was his badge of office. He was required to be a man
of blameless life, unmarried, and not connected with the
temple. Those who wished to confess went to his
house, and there standing with humility before him un-
burdened their conscience. The confessor was forbid-
den to reveal any secret confided to him in his official
capacity, under pain of punishment. The penance he
imposed was generally some kind of labor to be per-
formed for the benefit of the temple.. Boys did not
confess, but seem to have reserved the avowal of their
illos for niaturer age.”

The office of high-priest was held by the caciques, who
each in his turn left home and occupation and removed
to the chief temple, there to remain for a year attending
to religious matters and praying for the people. At the
expiration of the term he received the honorable distinc-
tion of having his nose perforated. Subordinate duties
were performed by boys. In the inferior temples other
classes entered for a year's penance, living like the chief
in strict seclusion, except at festivals perhaps, seeing
none but the boys ho brought food from their homes.
The ordinary priests were called tamagast” and lived
on the offerings made to the idols, and perhaps by their
own exertions, for the temples had no fixed revenues.™
They had sorcerers, texoves, who sometimes caused the

% Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 55-6; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii.,
lib. iv., cap. vii., lib. v., cap. xii.; Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 256,

% Brasseur de Bourbourg says: ‘ Tamagoz, c'est encore une autre corrup-
tion du mot tlamacazqui.' Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., p. 114.

%8 Quiedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 46-7, 53; Andagoya, in Navarrete, Col.
de Viages, tom. iii., p. 414; vol. ii., p. 728, of this work. Gomara, Hist. Ind.,
fol. 265, states that the priests were all married, while Herrera, Hist. Gen.,
dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., asserts the contrary. The latter view seems more
correct when we consider that women were net permitted to enter the tem-
ples, and that the high pues and devotees were obliged to leave their wives
when they passed into the sanctuary. It is even probable that there was no

distinct priesthood, since the temples had no revenues, and the temple ser-
vice was performed in part at least by volunteers; to this must be added the
fact, that although the confessor might not be connected with the temple, yet
he ordered penance for its benefit. It must be considered, however, that
without r ministers it would have been difficulty to keep up the routine
of feasts and ceremonies, write the books of records, teach the child:en, and
maintain discipline. i yas

496 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

death of children by merely looking at them, and who
could assume animal forms, for which reasons they were
much feared by the people. To strengthen this belief
they at times disguised themselves in skins of beasts.”
In Honduras the idea of a Supreme Being and Creator
was connected with a worship of the sun, moon, and
stars, to which the people made sacrifices.” Near
Truxillo were three chief temples™ in one of which was
a chalchiuite in the form of a woman, to which the peo-
ple prayed, and which answered them through the priests,
Preparatory to any important undertaking, cocks, dogs.
or even men, were sacrificed to secure the favor of the
gods. In each of the sanctuaries presided a papa, or
chief priest, to whom the education of the sons of the
nobles was entrusted. These were unmarried men, dis-
tinguished by long hair reaching to the waist, though in
some places they wound it round the head in plaits.
Their sanctity and superior knowledge gave them great
influence, and their advice was sought on all affairs of
importance by the principal men, for none else dared to
approach them. There were also sorcerers who could
assume animal forms, in which guise they went about
devouring men and spreading diseases.™,

Among the barbarians of the Mosquito Coast, we find,
of course, a much lower order of belief, and one which
calls to mind the ghouls and ghosts of Californian
mythology. The natives acknowledged a good spirit or
principle, to which they gave no definite name™ and
rendered no homage, for there was no necessity, they
said, to pray to one who always did good; as for thank-
ing him for mercies received, such an idea seems never

® Arricivita, Crénica Serdfica, iP: 57; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 101,
107. ‘Sous le nom de ‘'Texoxé "’ ou désignait les naguals, les génies mau-
cin, de om. beac (7 ainsi que les sorciers.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat.

iv 1 tom p. 1
ae * Mona . Ind., tom. ii., Ten

in At i Oore Honduras they consiated of ong, narrow houses, raised above
et fi vi Containing idols with heads of animals. Herrera, Hist. Gen., deo.
Vv " viii., ca

d., and ec, 4 lib. i., cap. vi.; see vol. i., P: 740, of this work.
e

i ‘e ist dafir das i ‘aus dem Engliso

n aufgenommen.’ Mos-
quitoland, Bericht, p. 1

THE MOSQUITO PANTHEON. 497

to have occurred to them. In fact, they had neither
temples nor idols, and the only ceremonies that partook
of a religious character were the conjurations of their
sukias, or sorceresses, who were constantly engaged in
breaking the spells of evil spirits, with which the people’s
fancy, excited by grewsome stories told round the camp-
fire, had filled every dark and dismal place, every stream
and mountain top. These gnomes were known by the
name of Wulasha,’™ and were supposed to issue from
their hiding-places, especially at night, to do all manner
of evil; they were espevially addicted to carrying off
solitary wanderers; it was, therefore, say the chroniclers,
almost impossible to induce a native to go out alone after
dark,

Amid the underwood and fallen trees about the
sources of rivers, big snakes were thought to dwell.
These monsters were assisted by a resistless upward cur-
rent and a strong wind which swept the unwary boat-
man within the reach of the red jaws and slimy folds.
Patook, among other rivers, had this bad reputation,
and a white man who despite the warnings of the
natives started to explore its mysteries, returned in a
few days with the story that his progress had bee:i op-
posed by a big white cock. Leewa'® was the name of
the water spirit, who sucked the bather into pools and
eddies and sent forth devastating waterspouts and hurri-
canes. Wihwin, a spirit having the appearance of a
horse, with tremendous teeth to devour human prey,
haunted the hills during the summer, but retired with
the winter to the sea, whence he originally issued. In
mountain caves, guarded by fierce white boars, lived the
patron deity of the warrees, the wild pigs of the country,
of childish form but immense strength, who directed the
movements of the droves. There were,. besides, certain

14% Bard's Watkna, P. 243, ‘Devils, the chief of whom they call me
)

Woolsaw, or ovil prin le, witchcraft.’ Strangeways’ ees Shom, p. 33
womne® writes Oulasser, Narrative, p. 72.
Bell, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxxii., p. 2
ie A shape which assigns the atory a coapahvets recent date, unless a
deer was Ori ginally meant,

498 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

venomous lizards, who after biting a man ran im.
mediately to the nearest water: if the wounded person
did the same and succeeded in reaching the water first,
he was saved, and the lizard died; otherwise the man
was doomed.” The Sukias whe were called upon to
exorcise these malignant beings on every occasion of
sickness, or misfortune, were generally old hags, supposed
to have a compact with the evil one, in whose name
they exacted half their fee before commencing their en-
chantments. The Caribs held regular meetings or festi-
vals to propitiate these spirits, and the Woolwas, who
seem to have had many religious forms in common with
the Nicaraguans, had ‘‘dances with the gods.’

Among the Isthmians several forms of worship appear,
that in the vicinity of Panamd resembling the system
prevalent in Hayti and Cuba, says Gomara.’” ‘The
heavenly bodies seem to have been very generally
adored, especially in the northern part of the Isthmus,
were all good things were thought to come from the sun
and moon, which were considered as man and wife; but
no accounts are given of temples, or forms of worship,
except that prayers were addressed to the sun.”

The most prominent personage in the Isthmian pan-
theon was Dabaiba,a goddess who controlled the thunder
and lightning, and with their aid devastated the lands
of those who displeased her. In Scuth America, thunder
and lightning were held to be the instruments used by
the sun to inflict punishment upon its enemies, which
makes it probable that Dabaiba was a transformed sun-
goddess. Pilgrims resorted from afar to her temple at
Urabd, bringing costly presents and human victims, who
were first killed and then burned, that the savory odors
of roasting flesh might be grateful in the delicate nostrils
of the goddess. Some describe her as a native princess,

107 ~ in Lond Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxxii., pp. 253-4; Woung’s Narra-
6,
iP Froebel's Cent, Ane » P. 137; see algo vol, i., pp. 740-1, of this work.

10 Mist, Ind., fol
10 d., fol. 89; Oviedo, Hist, Gen., tom, iii., pp. 20, 125.

nm im.
person
or first,
e man
pon to
sion of
ipposed
» name
eir en-
wr festi-
s, who
mn with

appear,
system
» The
nerally
sthmus,
the sun
fe; but
‘orship,

n pan-
under
lands

hunder

nsed_ by
which
bd sun-
nple at
bs, who
odors
nostrils
incess,

's Narra:

s work.

GODS OF THE ISTHMIANS.

499

whose reign was marked by great wisdom and many mira-
cles, and who was apotheosized after death. She was also
honored as the mother of the Creator, the maker of the
sun, the moon, and all invisible things, and the sender
of blessings, who seems to have acted as mediator be-
tween the people and his mother, for their prayers for
rain were addressed to him, although she is described as
controlling the showers, and once when her worship
was ney'scted she inflicted a severe drotth upon the
country.

When the needs of the people were very urgent, the
chiefs and priests remained in the temple fasting and
praying with uplifted hands; the people meanwhile ob-
served a four-days fast, lacerating their bodies and wash-
ing their faces, which were at other times covered with
paint. So strict was this fast that no meat or drink
was to be tov-shec .atil the fourth day, and then only a
soup made iron, maize-flour. The priests themselves
were sworn to perpetual chastity and abstinence, and
those who went astray in these matters were burned or
stoned to death. Their temples were encompassed with
walls and kept scrupulously ciean; golden trumpets, and
bells with bone clappers summoned the people to wor-
ship.”

In the province of Pocorosa the existence of a rain-
god called Chipiripe was recognized, who inhabited the
heaven above, whence he regulated celestial movements;
with him lived a beautiix! woman with one child.
Nothing else was known. veapecting this divine family.
This ignorance of the Cvity ‘vas further manifested by
the absence of any form of worship; the moral laws were
well defined, however, so ‘fit udultery and even lying
were regarded as sintui."? ‘uns Casas states that Chi-
cune, ‘the beginning of aii, who lived in heaven,
was the one being to whom the people of Darien
addressed their invocations and sacrifices, though a

1 Peter Martyr, dec, vii., lib, x.; Irving's Columbus, vol. iii., pp. 173-4;
Miller, Amerikantache Urreligionen,

. 421,
U8 Andagoya, in Navarrete, Col. by Viages, tom. iii., p. 401; Herrera, Hist,
Gen, doe IY, Lbs buy Capps Shor dee, th, Uris, aps ve ;

500 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

certain sect, or tribe, among them worshiped the water.
In another chapter he declares that the Isthmians
had little or no religion, for they had no temples
and few or no gods or idols."* According to Peter
Martyr, the embalmed and bejeweled bodies of ances-
tors were worshiped in Comagre, and in Veragua gold
was invested with divine qualities, so that the gathering
of it was attended with fasting and penance. Tuira,
whom the Spanish writers declared to hax~ been the
devil himself, was a widely known being who communed
with his servants, tequina, ‘masters,’” in roofless huts
kept for this purpose. Here the tequinas entered at
night, and spoke in different voices, to induce the
belief that the spirits were actua!'y answering their ques-
tions; the result of the interview ° ommunicated to
their patrons, At times the evil v.. ippeared in the
guise of a handsome boy without iiands'® and with
three-toed feet, and accompanied the sorcerers upon their
expeditions to work mischief, and supplied them with a
protecting ointment. Among the evil deeds imputed to
these sorcerers was that of sucking the navel of sleeping
people until they died.’ These men naturally took
care to foster ideas that tended to sustain or increase their
influence, and circulated, besides, most extravagant stories
of supernatural events and beings. Once a terrible hurri-
cane, blowing from the east, devasted the country and
brought with it two birds with maiden faces, one of
which was of a size so great that it seized upon men and
carried them off to its mountain nest. No tree could
support it, and where it alighted upon the rocks, the
imprint of its talons were left. The other bird was
smaller and supposed to be the offspring of the first.
113 Fidget dpologstioa, MS., cap. cxxiv., ccxlii.; Torquemad:, Monarg. Ind.,
tom. ii., p. 6
ud Be, iii., lib. iv., dec. ii., lib. iii,
115 A name applied din Cueba to all who excelled in an art. Ovtedo, Hist.

Gen., tom. iii., pp. 1
16 * Lag manos eo se las vian.’ Andagoya, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages,

‘tom, iii.,

17 For el account of sorcerers, see vol, i., p. 779-80. Gomara
writes: ‘Tauira, que es el Diablo.’ Hist. Ind., fol. a} ; Herrera, Hist, Gen.,
dec. ii, lib, ii., cap. x., lib. iii., cap. v., dec, iv., lib. i, ‘cap. x.

rater.
nians
nples
Peter
nces-
gold
ering
‘uira,
1 the
uned
huts
ed at
» the
ques-
ed to
n the
with
their
vith a
ed to
eping
took
their
tories
urri-
and
e of
h and
ould
| the
was
first.

. Ind.,

Hist.
tages,

pmara
Gen.,

PHALLIO WORSHIP. 501

After trying several plans to kill these man-eating har-
pies, they hit upon the device of fixing a large beam in
the ground, near the place where they usually alighted,
leaving only one end exposed, on which was carved the
image of a man. With the dawn of day the larger
bird came swooping down upon the decoy and imbedded
its claws so firmly in the beam that it could not with-
draw them, and thus the people were enabled to kill it."*

The knowledge that the human mind, no matter
how low its condition, can be capable of such puerile
conceptions, must bring with it a sense of humiliation to
the thinking man; and well were it for him could he
comfort himself with the belief that such debasing super-
stitions were at least confined to humanity in its first and
lowest stages; but this he cannot do, It is true that the
belief of the civilized Aztec was far higher and nobler
than that of the uncivilized Carib, but can he who has
read the evidence upon which old women and young
maidens were convicted of riding upon broomsticks to
witches’ Sabbaths, by the most learned judges of the
most learned law-courts of modern Europe, deny that
the coarsest superstition and the highest civilization have
hitherto gone hand in hand.

Before leaving this division it will be well to say a
few words concerning the existence uf Phallic Worship
in America.

One of the first problems of the primitive man is crea-
tion. If analogies lead him to conceive it as allied to a
birth, and the joint result of some unknown male and
female energy, then the symbolization of this power is
liable to take the gross form of phallic worship. Thus
it is that among the earliest nations of which we pos-
sess any knowledge, the life-giving and _ vivifying
principle of nature has been always symbolized by the
human organs of generation. The Lingham of India,
the Phallus of Greece, the Priapus of Rome, the Baal-
Peor of the Hebrew records, and the Peor-Apis of Egypt,
18 Peter Martyr, dec, vii., lib, x.

602 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

all have plainly the same significance. In most mythol-
ogies the sun, the principle of fire, the moon, and the
earth, were connected with this belief; the sun and moon
as the celestial emblems of the generative and product-
ive powers of nature, fire and the earth as the terrestial
emblems. These were the Father and the Mother, and
their most obvious symbols, as already stated, were the
phallus and kteis,or the lingham and yoni of Hin-
dustan.

It is unnecessary to multiply quotations respecting the
basal though often veiled idea of One, underlying the
polytheistic systems. The difficulty to the human mind
of considering anything in another than human aspect,
and our natural delight in analogies, leads, however, in
many cases to the consideration in certain aspects of this
deity as a duality or joint essence of the masculine and
the feminine. Take the learned Cory’s summary of
ancient mythology: ‘It recognizes, as the primary ele-
ments of all things, two independent principles, of the
nature of male and female; and these, in mystic union,
as the soul and body, constitute the Great Hermaphro-
dite Deity, The One, the universe itself, consisting still
of the two separate eleinents of its composition, modified
though combined in one individual... . If we investigate
the Pantheons of the ancient nations, we shall find that
each, notwithstanding the variety of names, acknowl-
edged the same deities and the same system of Theology ;
and, however humble any of the deities may appear,
each who has any claim to antiquity will be found ulti-
imately, if not immediately, resolvable into one or other
of the Primeval Principles, the Great God and Goddess
of the Gentiles,’

N9 Ancient Fragments, introduction, p. 34. M. Pictet says of the primitive
Celtic religion: ‘*From a primitive duality, constituting the fundamental
forces of the universe, there arises a double progression of cosmical powers,
which, after having crossed each other by a mutual transition, at last Vig
ceed to blend in One Supreme Unity, as in their essential principles.’’ Says
Sir William Jones; ‘* We must not be surprised at finding, on a close exami-
nation, that the characters of all the Pagan deities, male and female, melt
into each other, aud at last into one or two, for it seems a well-founded
opinion that the whole crowd of gods and desses in ancient Rome and
modern Vardnes, mean only the Powers of Nature, and principally those of

hol-
the
100n
luct-
stial
and
: the
Hin-

¥ the
; the
nind
pect,
r, in
this
and
y of

ele-
’ the

ion,
bhro-
still
ified
gate
that
owl-

ogy j
pear,

Iti-
ther
dess

nitive
eutal
wers,
ro-
ays
ami-
melt
nded
b and
se of

RATIONALE OF PHALLIC WORSHIP. 503

To the moral ideal of the present age, an ideal de-
rived from acquired habit, not from nature, phallic wor-
ship will doubtless appear repulsive and indelicate in
the extreme. It was, neverthless, the most natural form
of worship that the primitive man could adopt; for him
the symbol had no impure meaning, and was associated
with none of the disgusting excesses by means of which,
as he became more sophisticated, he converted his rever-
ence of Nature into a worship of Lust.

What could be more natural than that he should sym-
bolize the fecundatiug principle, the creative power, by
the immediate cause of reproduction, or as he doubtless
took it, of creation, the phallus. He recognized no
impurity or licentiousness in the mcderate and regular
gratifice.cion of any natural appetite; nor did it seem to
him taat the organs of one species of enjoyment were
naturally tobe considered as subjects of shame and con-
cealment more than those of another. As Payne Knight
remarks of the ancient nations of the old world: “In
an age, therefore, when no prejudices of artificial de-
cency existed, what more just and natural image could
they find, by which to express their idea of the benefi-
cent power of the great Creator than that organ which
endowed them with the power of procreation, and made
them partakers, not only of the felicity of the Deity,
but of his great characteristic attribute, that of mul-
tiplying his own image, communicating his blessings, and
extending them to the generations yet unborn.’’ Noth-
ing natural was to them offensively obscene. When the
Egyptian matrons touched the phallus they did so with
the pure wish of obtaining offspring. The gold ling-
ham on the neck of the Hindoo wives was not an object
of shame to them.

That the worship of the reciprocal principles of nature
was recognized and practiced in America, there is in my
mind no doubt. The almost universal prevalence of sun-
worship, which is, as 1 have already intimated, closely

the Sun, expressed in a variety of ways, and by n multitude of fanciful
names.”’ On the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India, p, 273,

ee

:

504 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

connected with phallic rites, would alone go far to prove
this, but an account of certain material relics and well
known customs is still more satisfactory evidence.

In Yucatan, according to Stephens, ‘the ornaments
upon the external cornice of several large buildings
actually consisted of membra conjuncta in coitu, too
plainly sculptured to be misunderstood. And, if this
were not sufficient testimony, more was found in the
isolated and scattered representations of the membrum
virile, so accurate that even the Indians recognised the
object, and invited the attention of Mr Catherwood to
the originals of some of his drawings as yet unpub-
lished.”

The sculptured pillars to be seen at Copan and other
ruins in Central America, which are acknowledged to
be connected with sun worship, are very similar to
the sculptured phallus-pillars of the Hast.” Mr. Squier

120 ‘This suggestion was first publicly made in a communication read,’
says Squier, Serpent Symbol, ». 49, ‘before the American Ethnological Society,
by a distinguished member of that body; from which the ele passages
are extracted. After noticing several facts tending to show the former ex-
istence of Phallic worship in America, the author of the paper proceeds
as follows:—‘‘We come now to Central America. Upon a perusal
of the first journey of our fellow-members, Messrs. Stephens and
Catherwood, into Guatemala and the central territories of, the Con-
tinent, I was forcibly struck with the monolithic idols of Copan.
We knew nothing before, save of Mexican, Palenque, and Uxmal
remains; and those of Copan appeared to me to be unlike them all,
and probably of an older date. My reading furnishes me with but one par-
allel to those singular monolithic sculptures, and that was seen in Ceylon, in
1796, by Captain Colin McKenzie, and described in the 6th volume of the
Asiatic Researches. As the description is short, I transcribe it: ‘The figure
is cut out of stone in relievo; but the whole is sunk in a hollow, scooped out,
so that it is defended from injury on the sides, It may be about fourteen feet
high, the countenance wild, a full round visage, the eyes large, the nose
round and long; it has no beard; nor the usual distinguishing marks of the
Gentoo casts. He holds up both his hands, with the forefingers and thumbs
bent; the head-dress is high, and seems ornamented with jewels; on the little
finyer of the left hind is a ring; on the arms bracelets; a belt high about the
waist; the lower dress or drapery fixed with a girdle much lower than the
Gentoo dress, from which something like tassels depend; a collar and orna-
ments on the neck and shoulders; and a seem to hang low from the ears.
No appearance of any arms or weapons.’’ This was the nearest approximation
I could make to the Copnn idols; for idols I took them to be, from the fact
that an altar wasinvarinbly placed before them. From a close inspection of
Mr. Catherwood’s drawings, I found that though no single figure presented
all the foregoing characteristics, yet in the various figures I could find every
particular enumerated in the Ceylon sculpture. It then occurred to me that
one of the most usnal symbols of the Phallus was an erect stone, often in its
rough state, sometimes poe ae and that no other object of heathen wor-
ship was so often shadowed forth by a single stone placed on end, as the

RELIOS OF PHALLIO WORSHIP. 505

is of the opinion that they may be considered as such,
and the Abbé Brasseur takes the same view in making
the plain cylindrical pillar found in so many places
the representation of the volcano, the goddess of love,
and whence it issues as the symbol of new life.
On another page he terms the phallus the Crescent,
the land whence the Nahuas originated, and the con-
tinent of America the body.” Some of the pillars
appear without ornament, as the picote at Uxmal, a
round stone of irregular form, which stood in front of
one of the ruins, but the worshipers of Priapus at
Thespia and other places were conient with a rude stone
for an image in early times. In Mexico according to
Gama, the presiding god of spring, Xopancalehuey
Tlalloc, was often represented without a human body,
having instead a pilaster or square column, upon a
pedestal covered with various sculptured designs.” In
Padnuco images of the generative organs were kept in the
temples as objects of worship, and statues representing
men and women performing the sexual act in various
postures stood in the temple-courts.” Near Laguna de
Terminos, on the coast of Yucatan, Grijalva found im-
ages of men committing acts of indescribable heastliness,
while close by lay the bodies of victims rec tly sacri-
ficed in their honor. The united symbols of the sexual
Phallus, That the worship of the Prinpus, [Lingham] existed in Ceylon,
has long since been satisfuctorily established; and hence I was led to suspect
that these monuments at Copan, might be vestiges of a similar fe eg! A
further inspection confirmed my suspicions; for, as I supposed, I found
sculptured on the American ruins the organs of generation, and on the back
of one of the emblems ‘relative to uterine existence, parturition, etc. I
should, however, have wanted entire confidence in the correctness of my
suspicions, had the matter rested here. On the return of Messrs, Stephens
and Catherwood from their second expedition, every donbt of the existence
of Phallic worship, especially in Yucatan, was removed.

121 Quatre Lettres, pp, 290, 301; Squier’s Serpent Symbol, pp. 47-50.

122 Leon y Gama, Dos Piedras, part i., p. 40.

123 In Pdnuco and other provinces ‘adorano il membro che portano
gli huomini fra le gambe, & lo tengono nella meschita, & posto similmente
sopra la piazza insieme con le imagini de rilieno di tutti modi di piacere che
pokisue essere frai’huomo & la donna, & gli hanno di ritratto con le gam-
be di alzate in diuersi modi.’ Relatione fatta per un gentil’huomo del Signor
Fernando Cortése, in Ramusio, Navigationi, tom. iii., fol. 307,

1% * Hallaron entre vnos arboles vn idolillo de oro y muchos de barro, dos
hombres de palo, caualgando vno sobre otro, a fuer Sodoma, y otro de tierra

cozida con ambas manos alo suyo, que lo tenia retajado, como son casi todos
ios Indios de Yucatan,’ Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 58,

606 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

organs were publicly worshiped in Tlascala, and in the
month of Quecholli a grand festival was held in honor of
Xochiquetzal, Xochitecatl, and Tlazolteotl, goddesses of
sensual delights, when the prostitutes and young men
addicted to sodomy were allowed to solicit custom on the
public streets. On Zapatero Island, around Lake
Nicaragua, and in Costa Rica, a number of idols have
been found of which the disproportionately large mem-
brum generationis virile in erectione was the most prominent
feature. Palacio relates that at Cezori, in Honduras,
the natives offered blood drawn from the organs of gene-
ration and circumcised boys before an idol called Icela-
ca, which was simply a round stone,” with two faces
and a number of eyes, and was supposed to know all
things, past, present, and future.” The frequent occur-
rence of the cross, which has served in so many and
such widely separated parts of the earth as the symbol of
the life-giving, creative, and fertilizing principle in na-
ture, is, perhaps, one of the most striking evidences of
the former recognition of the reciprocal principles of
nature by the Americans; especially when we remember
that the Mexican name for the emblem, tonacaquahuitl,
signifies ‘tree of one life, or flesh.’ Of two terra-
cotta relics found at Ococingo, in the state of Chiapas,
one would certainly attract the attention of any one who
had investigated the subject of phallic worship or had
seen the phallic amulets and ornaments of the old
world.'” In the Museum at Mexico are two small
images which were evidently used as ornaments. Hach
of these represents a human figure in a crouching pos-
ture, clasping with both hands an enormous phallus.
Col. Brantz Mayer kindly showed me drawings of these
made by himself. One of these figures is reproduced in
another volume of this work.

185 See vol. ii., pp. 336-7, concerning this festival.

126 ‘Un idolo de piedra redondo,’ which may mean a ‘cylindrical stone,’
as the translator of me 8 Carta has rendered it.

187 Palacio, Carta ‘

18 Concerning ther cross in America, see this vol. pp.

199] refer to the left hand figure in the cut on p. 348, vol. iv., of this

PHALLIO RITES. 507

The Pipiles abstained from their wives for four days
previous to sowing, in order to indulge in the marital
act to the fullest extent on the eve of that day, evidently
with a view to initiate or urge the fecundating powers of
nature. It is even said that certain persons were ap-
pointed to perform the sexual act at the moment of
planting the first seed. During the bitter cold nights
of the Hyperborean winter, the Aleuts, both men and
women, joined hands in the open air and whirled per-
fectly naked round certain idols, lighted only by the
pale moon. The spirit was supposed to hallow the dance
with his presence. There certainly could have been
no licentious element in this ceremony, for setting aside
the discomfort of dancing naked with the thermometer
at zero, ve read that the dancers were blindfolded, and
that decorum was strictly enforced. In Nicaragua,
maize sprinkled with blood drawn from the genitals was
regarded as sacred food.” The custom of drawing blood
from this part of the body was observed as a religious
rite by almost every tribe from Mexico to Panam,
though this, of course, does not prove that it was in all
cases connected with phallic worship. Circumcision is
regarded by Squier as a phallic rite, but there is not
sufficient testimony to support this view. ‘Tezcatlipoca,
the chief god of the Nahuas, who has been frequently
identified with the sun, was adored as a love-god, accord-
ing to Boturini, who adds that the Nahua Lotharios held
disorderly festivals in his honor, to induce him to favor
their designs.“ Orgies, characterized by the grossest
licentiousness are met with at different places along the
coast, as among the Nootkas, the Upper and Lower Cali-
fornians, in Sinaloa, Nicaragua, and especially in Yuca-
tan, where every festival ended in adebauch. During
a certain annual festival held in Nicaragua, women, of
whatever condition, could abandon themselves to the

work. For por Lary of ee amulets mentioned, see illustrations in Payne
Knight’ 8 Worship of Pi

130 See vol. i., of this nak, p. 93; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., p. 48;
See vol. ii., of this work, pp. 719-20.
131 Boturini, Idea, p. 13; see also this volume, pp. 243-4,

508 GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

embrace of whomever they pleased, without incurrirg
any disgrace.”

The feast of the Mexican month Xocotlhuetzin, ‘ fall,
or maturity of fruit,’ is to me a most striking evidence
of the former existence of phallic worship, or at least
recognition of the fecundating principle in nature. I
will, however, leave the reader to draw his own conclu-
sions. This feast of the ‘maturity of fruit’ was dedi-
cated to Xiuhtecutli, god of fire, and, therefore, of fertil-
ity, or fecundity. The principal feature of the feast
was a tall, straight tree, which was stripped of all its

138 See vol. i., of this work, pp. 200, 414, 566-6; vol. ii., p» 676, and ac-
count of Yucatec feasts in chap. xxii, In citing these brutish orgies I do not
presume, or wish to assert, that they were in any way connected with phallus
worship, or indeed, that there was anything of a religious nature in them.
Still, as they certainly were indulged in du ng, oF iu.smediately after the great
religious festivals, and as we know how the phallic cult degenerated from its
original purity into just such bestiality in Greece and Rome, I have thought
it well to mention them. There is much truth in the following remarks on
this point, by Mr. Brinton, though with his statement that the proofs of a
recognition of the fecundating principle in Nature by the Americans are ‘alto-
gether wanting,’ I cannot agree. He says: ‘There is no ground whatever to
invest these debauches with any recondite meaning. They are simply indi-
cations of the thorough and utter immorality which prevailed throughout
the race. And a still more disgusting proof of it is seen in the frequent ap-
pearance among diverse tribes of men dressed as women and yielding them-
selves to indescribable vices. There was at first nothing of a religious nature
in such exhibitions. Lascivious priests chose at times to invest them with
some such meaning for their own sensual gratification, just as in Brazil they
still claim the jus primae noctis, The pretended phallic worship of the Nat-
chez and of Culhuacan, cited by the Abbé Brasseur, rests on no good au-
thority, and if true, is like that of the Huastecs of Panuco, nothing but an
unrestrained and boundless profligacy which it were an absurdity to call a
religion. That which Mr. Stephens attempts to show existed once in Yuca-
tan, rests entirely by his own statement on a fancied resemblance of no value
whatever, and the arguments of Lafitau to the same effect are quite insufficient.
There is a decided indecency in the remains of ancient American art, especi-
ally in Peru, (Meyen) and great lubricity in many ceremonies, but the proof
is altogether wanting to bind these with the recognition of fecundating princi-
ple throughout nature, or, indeed, to suppose for them any other origin than
the prompéings of an impure ane even doubt whether they often re-
ferred to fire as the deity of sexual love. By a flight of fancy inspired by a
suudy of oriental mythology, the worsl#p of the reciprocal principle in Ame-
rica has been connected with that of the sun and moon, as the primitive
pair from whose fecund union all creatures proceeded. It is sufficient to
say if such a myth exists among the Indians—which is questionable—it jus-
tifies no such deduction; that the moon is often mentioned in their languages
merely as the ‘‘night sun;’’ and that in such important stocks as the Iro-
quois, Athapascas, Cherokees, and Tupis, the sun is said to be a feminine
noun; while the myths represent them more frequently as brother and sister
than as man and wife; nor did at least the northern tribes regard the sun as
the cause of fecundity in nature at all, but solely as giving light and warmth.’
Myths, pp. 149-50; Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol. v., pp. 416-17.

PHALLIC RITES. 509

bra’ ‘es except those close to the top and set up in the
co. ofthe temple. Within a few feet of its top a cross-
yara thirty feet long was fastened; thus a perfect cross
was formed. Above all, a dough image of the god of
fire curiously dressed was fixed. After certain horrible
sacrifices had been made to the deity of the day, the
people assembled about the pole, and the youth scram-
bled up for the image, which they broke in pieces and
scattered upon the ground.™ A great number of simi-
lar analogies may be detected in the rites and customs of
the people, and it is almost reluctantly that I refrain from
giving my views in full. I have made it my aim, how-
ever, to deal with facts, and leave speculation to others.
Those who wish to thoroughly investigate this most in-
teresting subject, cannot do better than study Mr Squier's
learned and exhaustive treatise on the Serpent Symbol.

133 For a full account of this feast see vol. ii., of this work, pp. 329-30.

CHAPTER XII.

FUTURE STATE,

Aponiaman Ipxvas cr Forors —GeyeraL Conceptions or Sour, — FurTurE
State or THE ALEUTS, CHEPEWyANS, NaTIVEs aT Minpanx SounpD, AND
Oxanaaans— Happy Lany or THE SALisH AND CHINOoKS--CONCEPTIONS
or Heaven aND Heuu or tae Nez Penrcks, FuatrHeaps, anp HarpaHs
—Tae Reams oF QuAWTEAHT AND CHAYHRR—BELIEFs OF THE SONGHIES,
CLALLAMS, AND Penn pv’OreEILLEs—-THE Futunk Strate oF THE CaLt-
FORNIAN AND Nevapa TriBes, CoMANcHRs, Pusesios, Navasos, APACHEs,
Mogu1s, Maricopas, YuMas, AND OTHERS--THE Sun House oF THE Mxzt-
CANS—TLALOCAN AND MictuaNn--ConpDITION oF THE Drap--JoURNEY 0}
tHE DgEap—FuTURE OF THE 'TLASCALTECS AND OTHER NATIONS.

The hope, or at least the expectation of immortality, is
universal among men. The mind instinctively shrinks
from the thought of utter annihilation, and ever clings
to the hope of a future which shall be better than
the present. But as man’s ideal of supreme happiness
depends upon his culture, tastes, and condition in this
life, we find among different people widely differing con-
ceptions of a future. The intellectual Greek looked for-
ward to the enjoyment of less gross and more varied
pleasures in his Elysian Fields, than the sensual Mussul-
man, whose paradise was merely a place where bright-
eyed houris could administer to his every want, or the
fierce Viking whose Valhalla was a scene of continual
gluttony and strife, of alternate hewing in pieces and
swilling of mead.

t has been supposed by some that the idea of future

(610)

IDEAS OF FUTURE, 611

punishment and reward was unknown to the Americans.’
This is certainly an error, for some of the Pacific Coast
tribes had very definite ideas of future retribution, and
almost all, in supposing that the manner of death in-
fluenced the future state of the deceased, implied a belief
in future reward, at least. The slave, too, who was
sacrificed on the grave of his master, was thought to earn
by his devotion, enforced though it might be, a passport
to the realms of eternal joy; had there been no less
blissful bourne this prospective reward for fidelity would
have been manifestly superfluous,

The future life of these people was sharply defined,
and was of the earth, earthy. In its most common
forms it was merely earth-life, more or less free from
mortal ills. The soul was subject to the same wants as
the body, and must be supplied by the same means. In
fact, the pagan’s conception of heaven was much more
clearly defined than the christian’s, and the former must
have anticipated a removal thither with a far less won-
dering and troubled mind than the latter.

In the Mexican heaven there were various degrees of
happiness, and each was appointed to his place accord-
ing to his rank and deserts in this life. The high-born
warrior who fell gloriously in battle did not meet on
equal terms the base-born rustic who died in his bed.
Even inthe House of the Sun, the most blissful abode of
the brave, the ordir ary avocations of life were not entire-
ly dispensed with, and after their singing and dancing,
the man took up his bow again, and the woman her spin-
dle. The lower heavens possessed x less degree of splen-
dor and happiness until the abode of the great mass of
those who had lived an obscure life and died a natu-
ral death was reached. These pursued their avocations

1 ‘' The preconceived opinions,’ snys Brinton, that snw in the meteorolo-
ie myths of the Indian a conflict between the Spirit of Good and the
pirit of Evil, have with like unconscious error fulsitied his doctrine of a
future life, and almost without an exceptions drawn it more or less in tho
likeness of a Christian heaven, hell, and purgatory. ... Nowhere was any well-
defined doctrine that moral turpitude was Tadged and punished in the next

world. No contrast is discoverable between a place of torments and a realm
of joy; at the worst, but a negative castigution awaited the liar, the coward,
or the niggard,’ Afyths, p. 242.

512 FUTURE STATE.

by twilight, or passed their time in a dreamy condition,
or state of torpor. As slaves were often sacrificed over
their master’s grave that they might serve in the next
world, we must suppose that differences of rank were
maintained there. The 'Tlascaltecs supposed that the
common people were after death transformed into beetles
and disgusting objects, while the nobler became stars
and beautiful birds, But this condition was also intlu-
enced by the acts and conduct of friends of the deceased.

Sir John Lubbock’ does not believe with Wilson and
other archzeologists that the burial of implements with
the dead was because of any belief that they would be
of use to the deceased in a future state; but solely as a
tribute of affection, an outburst of that spirit of sacrifice
and offering so ncticeable in all, from the most savage to
the most civilized, in the presence of lost brotherhood,
friendship, or love. In the first place the outfit in a
great majority of cases is wholly unfit and inadequate,
viewed in any rational scale of utility; they are not
such as the dead warrior would procure, if by any
means he were again restored to earth and to his friends.
In the second place it was and is usual to so effectually
mutilate the devoted arms and utensils, as to render
them a mere mockery if they are intended for the future
use of the ded. It is easy toclassify this phenomenon
in the same category with the deserting or destroying of
the house of the deceased, the refusal to mention his
name, and all the other rude contrivances by which the
memory of their sorrow may be buried out of their sight.

This subject may be viewed in another light, how-
ever, by considering that these Indians sometimes irapute
spirits even to inaminate objects, and when the wife or |
the slave is slain, their spirits meet the chief in the
future land. Do they not also break the bow and the
spear that the ghostly weapons may seek above the
hands of their sometime owner, not leaving him de-
fenceless among the awful shades. The mutilation of

£ Prehistoric Times, p. 189.

THE ROAD TO HEAVEN.

513

the articles may perhaps be regarded as a symbolic kill-
ing, to release the soul of the object; the inadequacy of
the supply may indicate that they were to be used only
during the journey, or preparatory state, more perfect
articles being given to the soul, or prepared by it, on
entering the heaven proper.

The slaves sacrificed at the grave by the Aztecs and
Tarascos were selected from «rious trades and profes-
sions and took with them the most cherished articles of
the master, and the implements of their trade, wherewith
to supply his wants. Passports were given for the differ-
ent points along the road, and a dog as guide. Thus the
souls of animals are shown to have entered heaven with
man, and this is also implied by the belief that men
were there transformed into birds and insects, and that
they followed the chase. Another instance which seems
to indicate that the souls of these earthly objects were
used merely during the preparatory state, was the yearly
feast given to departed souls during the period that this
condition endured, After that they were left to ob-
livion. The Miztecs had the custom of inviting the
spirits to enter and partake of the repast spread for them,
and this food, the essence of which had been consumed
by the unseen visitors, was regarded as sacred.’

The road to paradise was represented to be full of
dangers—an idea probably suggested to them by the
awful mystery of death. In the idea of this perilous
journey, this road beset with many dangers—storms,
monsters, deep waters, and whirlpools—we may trace a
belief in future retribution, for though the majority of
travelers manage to reach their destination having
only suffered more or less maltreatment by the way,
yet many a solitary, ill-provided wanderer is over-
whelmed and prevented from doing so. In exceptional
cases, the perils of this valley of the shadow of death
are avoided by the intervention of a friendly deity who,
Hermes-like, bears the weary soul straight to its rest.
Among the Mexicans Teoyaomique, the consort of the
3 See vel. Hi pr, 616, 623,

514 FUTURE STATE.

war-god, performed this good office for the fallen war-
rior.

With the alternative of this not very attractive future
before them, it is natural that the theory of metempsycho-
sis should have found wide and ready acceptance, for
with these people it did not mean purification from sin,
as among the Brahmans; it was simply the return of the
soul to the world, to live once more the old life, although
at times ina different and superior sphere. The human
form was, therefore, assumed more often than that of
animals. The soul generally entered the body of a
female relative to form the soul of the unborn infant; the
likeness of the child to a deceased friend in features or
peculiarities lent great weight to this belief. This reém-
bodiment was not limited to individuals; the Nootkas,
for instance, accounted for the existence of a distant
tribe, speaking the same language as themselves, by
declaring them to be the incarnated spirits of their dead.
The preservation of the bones of the dead, seems in some
cases to be connected with a belief in a resurrection of
the body. The opinion underlying the various customs
of preservation of remains, says Brinton, “was, that a
part of the soul, or one of the souls, dwelt. in the bones;
that these were the seeds which, planted in the earth,
or preserved unbroken in safe places, would, in time,
put on once again a garb of flesh, and germinate into
living human beings.’* Indeed, a Mexican creation-
myth relates that man sprang from dead bones,’ and in
Goatzacoalco the bones were actually deposited in acon-
venient place, that the soul might resume them.

The most general idea of a soul seems to have been
that of a double self, possessing all the essence and attri-
butes of the individual, except the carnal embodiment,
and independent of the body in so far as it was able to
leave it, and revel in other scenes or spheres. It would
accordingly appear to another person, by day or night, as
a ene with recognizable form and features, and

: se p. we, thi this volume.

toms
at a
bnes ;
rth,
ime,
into
ion-
d in

on-

IDEAS OF SOUL. 515

tvave the impression of its visits in ideas, remembrances,
ordreams. Every misty outline, every rustle, was liable
to be regarded by the undiscriminating aborigine as a
soul on its wanderings, and the ideas of air, wind, breath,
shadow, soul, were often represented by the same word.
The Eskimo word sila, signifies air, wind, and conveys
the idea of world, mind; tarnak, means soul, shadow.
The Yakima word for wind and life contains the same
root; the Aztec ehecatl signifies wind, air, life, soul,
shadow; in Quiché the soul bearsthe name of natub,
shadow; the Nicaraguans think that it is yulia, the
breath, which goes to heaven.’ Some hold that man
has several souls, one of which goes to heaven,
the others remain with the body, and hover about
their former home. The Mexicans and Quichés re-
ceived a soul after death from a stone placed between
the lips for that purpose, which also served for heart,
the seat of the soul;’ this was buried with the re-
mains. The custom of eating the flesh of brave ene-
mies in order to inherit their virtues, points to a belief
in the existence of another soul or vital quality in the
corpse. Some Oregon tribes gave a soul to every mem-
ber of the body. A plurality of souls is also implied by
the belief in soul-wandering during sleep, for is not the
body animate though the soul be separated from it? yet
the soul proper could not remain away from the body
beyond «& certain time, lest the weaker soul that remained
should fs > sustain life.

With the many contradictions and vague statements
befor us, it must be admitted that the phrase “ immor-
ta. "the soul” is often misleading. Tylor even con-
side —_., doubtful “ how far the lower psychology enter-
tains at all an absolute conception of immortality, for past
and future fade soon into utter vagueness as the savage
mind quits the present to explore them.’®

6 Oviedo, Hist. Nic., in Ternaue-Compansa, Voy., série ii., tom. fii. p. 38;
Buschmann, Spuren der Aztec, Spr., p. 74; Id., Maleate 159; Brasseur de
Bourbourg, Gram. Quiché, p. 196; Brinton’s Myths, p. 49-62, 235,

7 Vol. ii., pp. 606, 799, of this work.

8 Prim, Cull., vol. ij., p, 22.

FUTURE STATE.

616

Some tribes among the Hyperboreans actually dis-
believed in a future existence, while others held the
doctrine of a future reward and punishment. The con-
ceptions of a soul were well defined however; the Thlin-
keets supposed it to enter the spirit-world, among the
yeks, on being released from the body. The braves who
had fallen in battle, or had been murdered, became i:ee-
yeks, ‘ upper ones,’ and went to dwell in the north, where
the aurora borealis, omen of war, flashes in reflection from
the lights which illuminate their dances; so at least the
Eskimos regard it.? Those who died a natural death
became tékeeyeks, land-spirits, and tékeeyeks, sea-spirits,
and dwelt in takankon , doubtless situated in the centre
of the earth,” the road to which was watered, and made
smc": by the tears of relatives, but if too much crying
was indulged in, it became swampy and difficult to travel.
The takeeyeks and tékeeyeks appear to have attached
themselves as guardian spirits to the living, and were
under the control of the shamdns, before whom they
came in the form of land and sea animals, to do their
bidding and reveal the past and future." The keeyeks
were evidently above the conjuration of the sorcerers,
The comforts of heaven, like the road to it, depended on
earthly conditions; thus, the body was burned in order
that it might be warm in its new home. Slaves, how-
ever, who were buried, were condemned to freeze, but
the shamins whose bodies were also left to moulder, had
doubtless power to avoid such misery. All lived in
heaven as on earth, earning their living in the same
manner, to which end the implements and other articles
burnt with them were brought into use; wealthy people
appointed two slaves to be sacrificed at the pyre, upon
whom devolved the duty of attending to their wants.

9 Dall’s Alaska, pp. 145, 422.

10 Barrett-Lennard says, however: ‘Those that die a natural death are
condemned to dwell for ages among the branches of tall trees.’ Trav., P. 54.
*Careciese de algunas ideas religiosns, y viviese persuadido de la total ani-
quilacion del hombre con la muerte.’ Sutil y Mexicana, Viage, p. cxviii. It
is doubtful whether the latter class is composed of the spirits of men, or
merely of marine animals, See this vol., p. 148.
és The Tinnehs do not regard these as the spirits of men. Dall’s Alaska,

p.

METEMPSYCHOSIS.

517

The slaves carried their long-pending doom very philo-
sophically, it is said.’ It appears, however, that the
soul had the option of returning to this life, and as I
have said, generally entered the body of a female relative
to form the soul of a coming infant. Ifthe child resembled
a deceased friend or relation, this reémbodiment was at
once recognized, and the name of the dead person was
given to it. Metempsychosis does not appear to have
been restricted to relatives only, for the Thlinkeets were
often heard to express a desire to be born again into fami-
lies distinguished for wealth and position, and even to
wish to die soon in order to attain this bliss the earlier.”
This belief in the transmigration of souls was widely
spread, and accounts to some extent for the fearlessness
with which the Hyperboreans contemplated death.”
The Tacullies and Sicannis asked the deceased whether
he would return to life or not, and the shaman who put
the question decided the matter by looking at the naked
breast of the body through his fingers; he then raised
his hand toward heaven, and blew the soul, which had
apparently entered his fingers, into the air, that it might
seek a body to take possession of; or the shamin placed
his hands upon the head of one of the mourners and
sent the spirit into him, to be embodied in his next off-
spring. ‘The relative thus favored added the name of
the deceased to his own. If these things were not done
the deceased was supposed to depart to the centre of the
earth to enjoy happiness, according to their estimate of it.
The Kenai supposed that a soft twilight reigned per-
petually in this place, and that its inhabitants pursued
their avocations; while the living slept they worked.
The soul did not, however, attain perfect rest until a
feast had been given in its honor, attended by a distri-
bution of skins.”

__|2 Kolzebue’s New Voy.. vol. ii., p. 54. ‘They have a confused notion of
immortality.’ Jd,, p. 58. The Koniagas also used to kill a slave on the
grave of wealthy men. Dall’s Alasica, p. 403.

13 Dall’s Alaska, pp. 422-3; Holmberg, Ethno. Skiz., pp. 63-5.

4 The Chepewyans also held this theory, though they believed in a heav-

en of bliss and a state of punishment. Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxix.
15 Richardson's Jour., vol. i., pp. 409-10; Baer, Stat, u. Ethno., pp. 107-8,

518 FUTURE STATE.

Dall, in speaking of the Tinnehs, to which family the
Tacullies and Kenai belong, states that he found few who
believed in the immortality of the soul, and none in
future reward and punishment; any contrary assertion
he characterizes as proceeding from ignorance or exagger-
ation. Other authors, however, in treating of tribes
situated both in the extreme north, and in the center of
this family, as the Loucheux and Chepewyans, declare
that good and wicked were treated according to their
deserts, the poor and rich often changing lots in the
other life. ‘Terrible punishment was sometimes inflicted
upon the wicked in this world; thus, in Stickeen River
stand several stone pillars, which are said to be the re-
mains of an evil-doing chief and his family, whom divine
anger placed there as a warning to others. According
to Kennicott, the soul, whether good or bad, was received
by Chutsain, the spirit of death, who was, for this
reason probably, called the bad spirit."° The Eskimos
seem to have believed in a future state, for Richardson
relates that a dying man whom he saw at Cumberland
Inlet declared his joy at the prospect of meeting his
children in the other world and there living in bliss. It
is also a suggestive fact that implements and clothes
were buried with the body, care being taken that noth-
ing should press heavily upon it. The large destruction
of property practiced by some Rocky Mountain tribes
was for the purpose of obliterating the memory of the
deceased.” The Aleuts believed that the spirits of their
relatives attended them as good genii, and invoked them
on all trying occasions, especially in cases of vendetta.”
The Chepewyan story relates that the soul arrives after

111; Harmon's Jour., pp. 299-300; Wilkes’ Nar., in U. S. Ee, Ew., vol. iv.,
. 482

16 Whymper’s Alaska, p. 345; Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxxviii.; Hardisty, in
Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 318. ‘Nach dem Tode wurde nach ihren (Konia-
gas) Begriffen jeder Mensch ein Teufel; bisweilen zeigte er sich den Ver-
wandten, und dass hatte Gliick zu bedeuten.’ Holmbery, Ethno. Skiz., p. 122;
Macfie’s Vane, Isl., pe 457-8,

1 Vol. i., pp. 126-7, of this work; Dunn's Oregon, p. 83; Silliman’s Jour.,
vol. xvi., ee 147; Seeman's Voy. Herald, vol. ii., p.67: Richardson's Pol, Req.,
p. 322. The Eskimos had no idea of ‘future reward and punishment,’ Dall’s
Alaska, B. 145,

18 D'Orbigny’s Voy., p. 50.

FUTURE OF THE COLUMBIAN TRIBES. 519

death at a river upon which floats a stone canoe. In
this it embarks and is borne by the gentle current to an
extensive lake in the midst of which is an enchanted
island. While the soul is drifting toward it, the actions
of its life are examined, and if the good predominate, the
canoe lands it on the shore, where the senses revel in
never-ending pleasures. But if the evil of its past life
out-weigh the good, the stone canoe sinks, leaving the
spirit-occupant immersed up to the chin, there eternally
to float and struggle, ever beholding but never realizing
the happiness of the good.” ‘This pronounced belierin a
future reward and punishment obtained among several
of the Columbian tribes. The natives of Millbank
Sound picture it as two rivers guarded by huge gates,
and flowing out of a dark lake—the gloom of death.
The good enter the stream to the right, which sparkles
in constant sunshine, and supplies them with an abun-
dance of salmon and berries; the wicked pass in to the
left and suffer cold and starvation on its bleak, snow-
clad banks.” The Okanagans call paradise, or the
abode of the good spirit, elemehwmkillanwaist, and hell,
where those who kill and steal go, kishtsamah. The
torments of the latter place are increased by an evil
spirit in human form, but with tail and ears like a horse,
who jumps about from tree to tree with a stick in his
hand and belabors the condemned.”

Some among the Salish and Chinooks describe the
happy state as a bright land, called ¢amath by the latter,
evidently situated in the direction of the sunny south,
and abounding in all good things. Here the soul can
revel in enjoyments, which, however, depend on its
own exertions; the wealthy, therefore, take slaves with
them to perform the menial duties. The wicked on the
other hand are consigned to a desolate region under the
control of an evil spirit, known as the Black Chief, there
to be constantly tantalized by the sight of game, water

19 Mackenzie's Voy., p. cxix; Dunn's Oregon, p. 104.
20 Dunn's Oregon, p Pp. 272-3
2 Ross’ Adven., p. 288; Pomteddves, vol. ii., p. 158.

520 FUTURE STATE.

and fire, which they can never reach. Some held that
tamath was gained by a difficult road called otuihuti,
which lay along the Milky Way, while others believed
that a canoe took the soul across the water that was sup-
posed to separate it from the land of the living.”

The Nez Percés, Flatheads, and some of the Haidah
tribes believed that the wicked, after expiating their
crimes by a longer or shorter sojourn in the land of deso-
lation, were admitted to the abode of bliss. The Hai-
dahs called the latter place heewuck, ‘above,’ within
which seems to have been a still brighter spot termed
keewuckkow, ‘life above,’ the abode of perennial youth,
whither the spirit of the fallen brave took its flight.
Those who died a natural death were consigned with
the wicked to scewukkow, the purgatorial department,
situated in the forest, there to be purified before enter-
ing the happy keewuck.” The Queen Charlotte Island-
ers termed paradise ‘the happy hunting-ground,’ a
rather strange idea when we consider that their almost
sole avocation was fishing.* The Nez Percés believed
also in a purgatory for the living, and that the beavers
were men condemned to atone their sins before they
could resume the human form.” It seems to have been
undecided whether the wives and young children shared
the fate of the head of the family; the Flatheads ex-
pressed a belief in reunion, but that may have been after
one or all had been purified in the intermediate state.
Those who sacrificed slaves on the grave, sent them
alike with the master that died gloriously on the battle-
field, or obscurely in his bed.

The Ahts hold that the soul inhabits at once the heart
and the head of man. Some say that after death it will

% Parker's Explor. Tour, pp. 235, 246-7; Wilkes’ Nar., in U. S. Ew. Ex.,
vol. v., p. 124; Dunn’s Oregon, p. 120. The Salish and Pend d’Oreilles
believed that the brave went to the sun, while the bad remained near
earth to trouble the living, or ceased to exist. Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 239-
40. But this is contradicted by other accounts.

%3 Macfie’s description leaves a doubt whether the keewuck and keewuck-
kow are names for the same heaven, or separate. Vane. Isl., p. 457.

M Poole's @. Char. Tol, p- $20.

% Cox's A .i,, p. 252; Dnnn, Oregon, p. 318, says, ‘beavers are a
fallen race of Indians,’ : ‘

QUAWTEAHT AND CHAYHER. 521

return to. the animal form from which its owner can trace
his descent; others that, according to rank, disembodied
souls will go to live with Quawteaht or with Chayher.
Quawteaht inhabits a beautiful country somewhere up
in the heavens, though not directly over the earth; a
goodly land flowing with all manner of Indian milk and
honey; no storms there, no snow nor frost to bind the
rivers, but only warmth and sunshine and abundant
game and fish. Here the chiefs live in the very man-
sion of Quawteaht, and the slain in battle live in
a neighboring lodge, enjoying also in their degree, all
the amenities of the place. And these are the only
doors to this Valhalla of the Ahts; only lofty birth or a
glorious death in battle can confer the right of entry
here. The souls of those that die a woman’s death, in
their bed, go down to the land of Chayher. Chayher
is a figure of flesh without bones—thus reversing our
pictorial idea of the grisly king of terrors—who is in the
form of an old gray-bearded man. He wanders about
in the night stealing men’s souls, when, unless the doc-
tors can recover the soul, the man dies, The country of
Chayher is also called chayher. It resembles a sub-
terranean earth but is every way an inferior country:
there are no salmon there and the deer are wretchedly
small, while the blankets are so thin and narrow as to
be almost useless for either warmth or decoration. This
is why people burn blankets when burying their friends;
they cannot bear that their friend be sent shivering to
the world below. The dead Aht seems to have been
allowed in some cases to roam about on earth in the
form of a person or animal, doing both good and evil, a
belief which induced many to make conciliatory offerings
of food to the decewsed. Some Chinook trikes were
afraid to pronounce the names of their dead lest they
should be attracted and carry off souls. This was es-
pecially feared at the sick-bed, and the medicine-man
had to be constantly on guard with his familiars to frus-
trate such attempts.” ‘The Aht sorcerer even sent his

%6 Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol. vi., p. 619; vol. i., p. 248, of this work.

522 FUTURE STATE.

own soul down to chayher to recover the truant, in
which he generally succeeded, unless the spirit of the
sick man had entered a house.” Some among the tribes
believed that the soul issued from animals, especially sea-
gulls and partridges, and would return to its original
form. The Songhies said the hunter was transformed
into a deer, the fisherman into a fish; and the Nootkas,
that the spirit could reassume a human form if the celes-
tial abode were not to its taste.”

In striking contrast to the preceding beliefs in fu-
turity, and to that of the Clallams, who with universal-
istic feeling believe that the good spirit will receive all,
without exception, in his happy hunting-ground, we are
told that the Pend d’Oreilles had no conceptions what-
ever of soul or immortality, so that the missionaries found
it difficult to explain these matters to them. It is cer-
tainly strange that a tribe surrounded by and in con-
stant contact with others who held these ideas should
have remained uninfluenced by them, especially as they
were extremely superstitious and believed in guardian
spirits and dreams.” Disbelief in a future state is
assigned to many tribes, which upon closer examina-
tion are shown to possess ideas of a life after this;
such statements must, therefore, be accepted with cau-
tion. Among the Californians who are said to iden-
tify death with annihilation, are the Meewocs and the
tribes of the Sacramento Valley, yet the latter are afraid
to pronounce the name of a deceased person, lest he
should rise from dark oblivion.” But these may be re-
garded as exceptions, the remainder had pretty definite
ideas of futurity, heaven being generally placed in the
west, whither the glorious sun speeds to rest. The

%7 The sorcerer is stated by one native to have brought the soul on a
small stick and thrown it back into the head of its body. Sproat’s Scenes, p.
214. ‘The natives often imagine that a bad spirit, whieh loves to vex and
torment, takes the place of the truant soul during its absence.’ IJd., pp. 173-
4; Hutchings’ Cal. Mag., vol. v., }.. 225.

% Mayne’s B.C., p. 181; Sutil y Mewizana, Viage, p. 136; Meares’ Voy., p.
270; Macfie’s Vanc., Isl., p. 457; Sproat’s Scenes, pp. 212-3.

2 Stevens, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1854, p. 212; Brinton’s Myths, pp. 233-4; see

note 2.
30 Johnston, in Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol., iv., p. 225.

FUTURE OF THE CALIFORNIANS. 523

Northern Californian regarded it as a great camping-
ground, under the charge of the good spirit, where all
meet after death, to enjoy a life free from want. But
there were dangers upon the road which led to this bliss;
for Omahd, the evil spirit, hovered near the dying man,
ready to snatch and carry off the soul as soon as ii should
leave its earthly tenement. To prevent such a calamity,
the friends who attended the burning of the body
shouted and gesticulated to distract the Evil One’s attcn-
tion and enable the heart, in which the soul resided, to
leap out of the flames and escape to heaven. If the
body was interred, they thought the devil would have
more chance of capturing the heart, which would then be
sent back to earth to annoy the living.” The natives
near the mouth of Russian River burned their dead to
prevent their becoming grizzlies, while those about Clear
Lake supposed that the wickea alone were thus meta-
morphosed, or condemned to wander as spirits.” Others,
however, who adhered to interment, sought to complete
the ceremony before night, when the coyote, in which
form the evil spirit probably appeared, begins to howl,
and for three days they kept up noisy demonstrations
ard fires at the graves; after that the fate of the soul
was no longer doubtful. If captured, the good spirit
could redecii: it with a big knife. It was the belief in
some parts that the deceased remained in the grave dur-
ing the three days, and then proceeded to heaven, where
earth and sky meet, to become stars, chiefs assuming the
most brilliant forms.”

The bright rivers, sunny slopes, and green forests of
the Euroc paradise are separated from the earth by a
deep chasm, which good and wicked alike must cross on
a thin, slippery pole. The former soon reach the goal,
aided, doubtless, by the good spirit, as well as by the fire
lighted on the grave by mourning friends, but the wicked
man as to falter unaided along the shivering bridge;

31 Hutchings’ Cal. Mag., vol, iii., pp. 488-9; Macfie’s Vane. Isi., p. 448.
32 Power | Pomo, MS.
33 1b.; Geobs, in Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol. iii., p. 140.

524 FUTURE STATE.

and many are thie nights that pass before his friends
venture to “1ispense with the beacon, lest the sou) miss
the path, and fall into the dark abyss. Nor does retri-
bution end with the peril .nd anxiety of the passage,
for many are liable to return to the earth as birds, beasts,
and insects. When a Kailta dies, a little bird carries
the soul to spirit-land, but its flight is impeded by the
sins of the wicked, which enables a watching hawk to
overtake and devour the soul.™

The Cahrocs heve a more distinct conception of future
reward and punishment, and suppose that the spirit on
its journey comes to two roads, one strewn with flowers
and leading to the bvight western land beyond the great
waters, across which good Chareya doubtless aids it;
the other, bristling with thorns and briars, leading
to a place full of deadly serpents, where the wicked
must wander for ever.” The Tolewahs place heaven
behind the sun, wherever that is, and picture hell as a
dark place where souls shiver for ever before the cold
winds, and are harassed by fiends. The Modocs be-
lieve in a spirit-land, evidently situated in the air above
the earthly home, where souls hover about inciting the
living to good or evil. Merit appears to be measured
by bodily stature, for contemptible woman becomes so
small here that the warrior, whose stature is in propor-
tion to his powers, requires quite a number of females to
supply his wants.”

The Ukiahs, Sandls, and others sprinkle food about the
favorite haunts of the dead. The mother, for instance,
while chanting her mournful ditty over the grave of her
dead babe sprinkles the nourishing milk in the air.”

Many of the Nevada tribes thought that several heav-
ens await the soul, each with a degree of bliss in propor-
tion to the merits of the dead person; but this belief was
not well defined; nor was that of the Snakes, who killed

‘ locs, pp. 241, 249.

3 friends
30u) miss
oes retri-
passage,
's, beasts,
d carries
d by the
hawk to

of future
spirit on
h flowers
the great

aids it;

leading
> wicked
2 heaven
hell as a
the cold
xdocs be-
nir above
iting the
neasured

omes sO
propor-
males to

bout the
nstance,
re of her
ir.”

al heav-
propor-
blief was
o killed

my 249,

METEMPSYCHOSIS IN CALIFORNIA. 525

the favorite horse, and even wife, for the deceased, that
he might not be lonely.” The Allequas supposed that
before the soul could enter the ever-green prairies to live
its second life, free from want and sorrow, it had expiated
its sins in the form of some animal, weak, or strong, bad
or good, often passing from a lower to a higher grade,
avxording to the earthly conduct of the deceased. By
eating prairie-dogs and other game, some sought to gather
souls, apparently with a view to increase the purity of
their own and shorten tise preparatory term.” The
San Diego tribes, on the other hand, who considered
large game as the embodied spirits of certain genera-
tions, abstained from their flesh, evidently fearing that
such fare would hasten their metamorphosis; but old
men, whose term of life was nearly run, were not de-
terred by these fears.

Ideas of metempsychosis also appear in one of the
songs of a Southern Californian tribe, which runs: As
the moon dies to be reborn, so the soul of man will be re-
newed. Yet this people professed no belief in a future
reward, or punishment. It is doubtless the same people,
living near Monterey, of whom Marmier says, they sup-
posed that the dead retired to certain verdant isles in
the sea, while awaiting the birth of the infants whose
souls they were to form. Others regarded these islands
as paradise, and placed hell in a mountain chasm.”

Among the Acagchemems we meet with a peculiar
pantheistic notion. Death was regarded as an invisible
entity constituting the air, which also formed the soul
of man, or his breath, whose particular seat was the
heart. As man became decrepit, his soul was gradually
absorbed in the element which had originated it, until it
finally became merged and lost therein. But this was
the belief of some only among the tribe. Others sup-

39 Vol. i., » BP. 430-40, this work; Browne's L. Cal.,
40 0 ass sl A dem Sacramento, pp. 228-9; Sci: solareie yaa vol. ¥,, pp.

215-6

a pa Peérouse, Voy., tom. ii., p. 307; Fata Notive, in Bryant, Voy. en
hag 238; Fuges, in "Nouvelles quae oe Voy., 1844, tom. ci., pp. 335-
6; ofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 379-80

We
il
|
Vy

. i
|

Sn Ree

526 FUTURE STATE.

posed that they would go to tolmec, the abode of the great
Chinigchinich, situated below the earth, abounding in
sensual pleasures, unembittered by sorrow, and where
food and other wants were supplied without labor. Still
others held that Chinigchinich sent the soul, or the
heart, as they expressed it, to different places, according
to the station in life and manner of death of the deceased.
Thus, chiefs and medicine-men, whom Tacu, the eater of
human flesh, honored by devouring, became heavenly
bodies, while those who died by drowning, or in captiv-
ity, and could not be eaten by Tacu, went elsewhere.
Souls of common people were consigned to some unde-
fined, though evidently happy, place, since they were
obliged to pass a probationary term on the borders of the
sea, On mountains, in valleys, or forests, whence they
came to commune with, or among, their widows or rela-
tives, who often burned or razed the house to be saved
from such visits.

The Mojaves have more liberal ideas and admit all to
share the joys of heaven. With the smoke, curling up-
wards from the pyre, the soul rises and floats eastward to
the regions of the rising sun, whither Matevil has gone
before, and where a second earth-life awaits it, free from
want and sorrow. But if its purity be sullied by crime,
or stained with human blood, the soul is transformed
into a rat and must remain for four days in a rat-hole
to be purified before Matevil can receive it. According
tv some, Matevil dwells in a certain lofty mountain lying
in the Mojave territory.“

The Pimas also believe that the soul“ goes to the east,
to the sun-house perhaps, there to live with Sehuiab,

42 Boscana, in Robinson's Life tn Cal., pp. 316-24.

43 ‘Ives legte dem Gebirge den Namen: Berg der Todten '’ bei.’ Méll-
housen, Reisen in die Felsengeb., tom. i., pp. 367-8. ‘All cowardly Indians
{ene bravery was the good with them) were tormented with hardships and
ailures, slobneas and defeats. This ie M ee they never dured visit.’
Stratton’s Capt. Oatman Girls, p. 233 in Ind Af. Rept., 1870, P a
Whip le, Hobank, and Turner's Rept., in y og "Bos R. R. pt., vol. iii,, p. 43,

tupec, the soul or heart, may be connected with cep, breath. Wale

her's Pimas, M8. In Se hooleraft’s Arch., vol. iii., p. 461, occurs the terr
angel, but the Pima chicfs whom I have questioned state that the term
angel was not known to them,

the great
nding in
d where
yr. Still
or the
ccording
leceased.
eater of
leavenly
1 captiv-
sewhere.
1e unde-
ey were
rs of the
ice they
or rela-
be saved

it all to
ling up-
ward to
as gone
from
y crime,
sformed
at-hole
cording
n lying

e east,
ehuiab,

lei.’ Moll.
Indians
hips and
eC Mei) :
» Pp. ;
p. 43,

. Wal-
he term
he term

FUTURE OF MARICOPAS, YUMAS, APACHES, MOQUIS. 527

the son of the creator, but this Elysion is not perfect,
for a devil called Chiawat is admitted there, and he
greatly plagues the inmates.” The Maricopas are stated
in one account to believe in a future state exactly similar
to the life on earth, with all its social distinctions and
wants, so that in order to enable the soul to assume its
proper position among the spirits, all the property of the
deceased, as well as a great part of that of his relatives,
is offered up at the grave. But according to Bartlett
they think the dead will return to their ancient home
on the banks of the Colorado, and live on the sand hills.
Here the different part. of the body will be transformed
into animals, the head, for instance, becoming an owl,
the hands, bats, the feet, wolves, and in these forms con-
tinue their ancient feuds with the Yumas, who expelled
them from that country.” The Yumas, however, do not
conform to these views, but expect that the good soul
will leave worldly strife for a pleasant valley hidden in
one of the cafions of the Colorado, and that the wicked
will be shut up in a dark cavern to be tantalized by the
view of the bliss beyond their reach.”

The Apaches believe in metempsychusis and consider
the rattlesnake as the form to be assumed by the wicked
after death. The owl, the eagle, and perfectly white birds,
were regarded as possessing souls of divine origin, and
the bear was not less sacred in their estimation, for the
very daughter of Montezuma, whom it had carried off
from her father’s home, was the mother of its race.
The Moquis, went so far as to suppose that they would
return to the primeval condition of animals, plants, and
inanimate objects.” The faith of the other Pueblo tribes
in New Mexico was more in accordance with their cul-
tured condition, namely, that the soul would be judged

45 Walker's Pimas, MS,

46 Pers, Nar., vol. ii., p., 222; Cremony’s Apaches, pp. 104-5, ‘Cuando
muere vi 4 vivir su corazon por el mar hacia el poniente; que algunos des-
pues que mueren viven como tecolotes, y tltimamente dijeron que ellos no
cohen bien estus cosas,’ Garces, Diario, hh Doc, Hist, Mex., série ii, tom. i,,

” Day, in Hesperian, vol, iii., p, 482.
48 Henry, in Schooleraft's Arch., vol. v., p. 209.
# Ten Broeck, in Id., vol. iv., p. 86,

528 FUTURE STATE.

immediately after death according to its deeds. Food
was placed with the dead, and stones were thrown upon
the body to drive out the evil spirit. On a certain night,
in August it seems, the soul haunted the hills near its
former home to receive the tributes of food and drink
which affectionate friends hastened to offer. Scoffers
connected the disappearance of the choice viands with
the rotund form of the priests.

The Navajos expected to return to their place whence
they originated, below the earth, where all kinds of
fruits and cereals, germinated from the seeds lost
above, grow in unrivaled luxuriance. Released from
their earthly bonds the spirits proceed to an extensive
marsh in which many a soul is bemired through re-
lying too much on its own efforts, and failing to ask
the aid of the great spirit; or, perhaps the outfit of
live stock and implements offered at the grave has
been inadequate to the journey. After wandering
about for four days the more fortunate souls come to
a ladder conducting to the under world; this they
descend and are gladdened by the sight of two great
spirits, male and female, who sit combing their hair.
After looking on for a few suns imbibing lessons of
cleanliness, perhaps, they climb up to the swamp again
to be purified, and then return to the abode of the
spirits to live in peace and plenty for ever. Some
believe that the bad become coyotes, and that women
turn into fishes, and then into other forms,”

Among the Comanches we find the orthodox Ameri-'
can paradise, in its full glory. In the direction of the
setting sun lie the happy prairies, where the buffalo lead
the hunter in the glorious chase, and where the horse
of the pale-face aids those who have excelled in scalping
and horse-stealing, to attain supreme felicity. At night
they are permitted to revisit the earth, but must re-

50 Id., Ae agg Deserts, vol. ii., p. 402; Whipple's Rept., in Pav.
R. rie ‘Tigh, vol iii.,
Beadle, in Crofi a Western World, Aug., 1872, p. 27; Bristol, in Ind.
” Repts 1867, p. 358; Eaton, in Schooleraft's Arch., vol. iii., p. 218; Davis’
# Gringo, p. 418,

Food
upon
night,
ar its
drink
offers
with

hence
ids of
3 lost
from
ensive
th re-
to ask
tfit of
e has
dering
me to

they
great
hair.
bns of
again
f the
Some
omen

meri-'
f the
» lead
10rse
lping
ight
t re-

THE REALM OF MUCCHITA. 629

turn before the break of day.” In striking contrast
to this idea stands the curious belief said to have been
held by the Periciis of Lower California. Their great
spirit Niparaya hated war, and to deter his people from
engaging therein, consigned all those slain in battle to
Tuparan or Wac, a spirit who rising in rebellion against
the peace-loving Niparaya was deprived of all luxu-
ries, and imprisoned in a cave by the sea, guarded by
whales. Yet a number openly professed themselves
adherents of this personage. The Cochimis, who appear
to have had nearly the same belief, declare that it was
the bad spirits who sought to secure the soul and hold
it captive in the cave. Whatever may be the correct
version, their belief in a future state, says Baegert, is
evident from the custom of putting sandals on the feet
of the dead.”

The souls of the Sonora Indians dwell in the caves
and among the rocks of the cliffs, and the echoes heard
there are their clamoring voices.“ |Ribas declares that
in one part of Sinaloa a future state was ignored, yet
he says that they acknowledged « supreme mother and
her son, who was the first man.” In Nayarit we
come upon the Mexican idea of different heavens, de-
termined by the mode of death. Thus, children and
those w!io were carried off by disease went to one place;
those who died a violent death, to the air regions, where
they became shooting stars. The others went to mucchita,
placed somewhere in the district of Rosario, where they
lived under the care of men with shaven heads. During
the day they were allowed to consort with the living,
in the form of flies, to seek food; but at night they
returned to the mucchita to assume the human form

32 ava Army Life, p. 57; Schooleraft's Arch., vol. v., pp. 54, 685.
Food is left at the grave for a certain time; this would indicate that the soul
proper, or its second form, remains with the body for a while. Jd., pp. 78-9.

mei Rept., 1866, p. 387; Clavigero, Storia della Cal., tom. i.,
pp

. 136-7, 139,
4 Alger's Future Life, p. 208, ‘Lo Hevan 4 enterrar sentado y con sus
mejores vestidos, poniendo 4 su lado competente porcion de sus ordinarios
alimentos.’ Alegre, Hist. Comp, de Jesus, tom, ii., p. 218,
55 Hist, de los Triumphos, p. 18.
Vou, Il, 94

580 FUTURE STATE.

and pass the time in dancing. At one time they could be
released from this abode, but owing to the imprudence
of one man, this privilege was lost. This person one
day made a trip to the coast to procure salt, leaving
his wife to take care of the house. After a short
absence he returned, in time only to see her disappear
in the mucchita, whither the spirits had beckoned her.
His sorrow was boundless, for he loved his wife dearly.
At last his tears and sighs touched the heart of the
keeper of the souls, who told him to watch for his
wife one night when she appeared in the dance, and
wound her with an arrow: she would then recognize
him and return home; but he warned him not to speak
a loud word, or she would disappear forever. The
man did as he was told, wounded his wife on the leg,
and had the joy to see her return home. Musicians
and singers were called in, and a grand feast was held
to celebrate the event; but, overcome with excitement,
the husband gave yent to a shout of joy. The next
moment the warning of the keeper was verified—a
ghastly corpse had taken the place of the wife. Since
then no other soul has been allowed to rejoin the
living.” It is curious to note in how many countries
the doctrine of a future life has been connected with the
legend of some hero who has died, descended into the
under-world, and again risen to life. How closely does
this American legend resemble the old story of Orpheus
and Eurydice; the death and resurrection of the Kgyp-
tian Osiris; the Mithraic Mysteries of Persia, in which
the initiated, in dumb show, died and rose again from
the coffin; the Indian Mahadeva searching for the life-
less Sita, and made glad by his resuscitation; the re-
covery of Atys by Cybele among the Phrygians; the re-
turn of Kore to Demeter for half of every year in the
Elusinian Mysteries; the mock murder and new birth of
the impersonate] Zagreus, in the Bacchic Mysteries; the
Metamorphoses in the Celtic and Druidic Mysteries

% Apostolicos Afanes, pp. 22-4.

uld be
idence
n one
eaving

short
appear
d her.
dearly.
of the
for his
‘e, and
cognize
) speak
. The
the leg,
usicians
as held
tement,
1e next
ified—a

Since
pin the
buntries
ith the
mto the
ly does
)rpheus
> Kgyp-
which
n from
e life-
he re-
the re-
in the

birth of
es; the
steries

EICUT AND YOATOTOWEE. 581

practiced in Gaul and Britain; all are different forms of
but one idea.

An equally devoted husband was the Neeshenam
whose story is told by Mr Powers in the following
legend :—“ First of all things existed the moon. The
moon created man, some say in the form of a stone,
others say in the form of a simple, straight, hairless,
limbless muss of flesh, like an enormous earth-worm, from
which he gradually developed into his present shape.
The first man thus created was called Eicut; his wife,
Yodtotowee. In process of time Yodtotowee fell sick,
and though LHicut nursed her tenderly, she gradually
faded away before his eyes and died. He loved her
with a love passing the love of brothers, and now his
heart was broken with grief. He dug a grave for her
close beside his camp-fire (for the Neeshenams did not
burn the dead then), that he might daily and hourly
weep above her silent dust. His grief knew no bounds.
His life became a burden to him; all the light was gone
out of his eyes, and all this world was black and dreary.
He wished to die, that he might follow his beloved
Yodtotowee. In the greatness of his grief he fell into a
trance, there was a rumbling in the ground, and the
spirit of the dead Yoitotowee arose out of her grave and
came and stood beside him. When he awoke out of his
trance and beheld his wife, he would have spoken to her,
but she forbade him, for in what moment an Indian
speaks to a ghost he dies. She turned away and set out
to seek the spirit-land ( odshwooshe koom, literally, ‘the
dance-house of ghosts.’) Eicut followed her, but the
ghost turned and said, ‘why do you follow me? you are
not dead.’ They journeyed on through a great country
and a darksome—a land that no man has seen and re-
turned to report—until they came to a river that sepa-
rated them from the spirit-land. Over this river there
was a bridge of one small rope, so very narrew that a
spider could hardly cross over it. Here the spirit of
Yodtotowee must bid farewell to her husband and go
over alone into the spirit-land. But the great unspeak-

582 FUTURE S1ATE.

able grief of Eicut at beholding his wife leaving him for-
ever overcame his love of life, and he called aloud after
her. In that self-same instant he died—for no Indian
can speak to a ghost and live—and together they entered
the land of spirits. Thus Hicut passed away from the
realm of earth, and in the invisible world became a good
and quiet spirit, who constantly watches over and be-
friends his posterity still living on earth. But he and
his wife left behind them two children, a brother and a
sister; and to prevent incest the moon created another
ir and from these two pairs are descended all the
eeshenams of to-day.”

The future abode of the Mexicans had three divisions
to which the dead were admitted according to their rank
in life and manner of death. Glorious as was the fate
of the warrior who died in the cause of his country, on
the battle-field, or in the hands of the enemy's priests,
still more glorious was the destiny that awaited his soul.
The fallen Viking was carried by radiant Valkyries to
Valhalla, but the Aztec hero was borne in the arms of
Teoyaomique herself, the consort of Huitzilopochtli, to
the bright plains of the sun-house, in the eastern part of
the heavens, where shady groves, trees loaded with
luscious fruit, and flowers steeped in honey, vied with
the attractions of vast hunting-parks, to make his time
pass happily. Here also awaited him the presents sent
by affectionate friends below. --Evory-morning when the
sun set out upon his journey, these bright strong war-
riors seized their weapons” and marched before him,
shouting and fighting sham battles. This continued un-
til they reached the zenith, where the sun was trans-
ferred to the charge of the Celestial Women, after which
the warriors dispersed to the chase or the shady grove.

57 This legend is taken from a MS kindly presented to me by Mr. Ste-
phen Powers, aud is a corrected version of the legend entitled ‘ Hilpmecone
and Olégance’ contributed by the same gentleman to the Overland Monthly,

Jono, 1874, Pp. Bel,

58 ‘ E] que tenia rodela horadada de saetas no podia mirar al sol.’ Sahagun,
Hist. Gen,, tom. i., lib. iii., p. 265. This sy rhaps mean that the hum-
bler warrior, whose inferior shield was more likely to be pierced, conld not
look upon the majestic face of the sun, just as he had been interdicted from
rega' the face of his king.

t he and
er and a

another
_ all the

divisions
heir rank
the fate
untry, on
’s priests,
1 his soul.
lkyries to
> arms of
yochtli, to
rn part of
ded with
ied with
his time
sents sent
whien the
ong war-
fore him,
nued un-
as trans-
ter which
wy grove.

B bh Mr. Ste-
Hilpmecone
/ nd Monthly,

b1.’ Sahagun,
hat the hum-
ad, conld not
rdicted from

THE SUN HOUSE AND TLALOCAN. 583

The members of the new escort were women who had
died in war or child-bed, and livéd in the western part
of the Sun House. Dressed like the warriors in martial
accoutrement,” they conducted the sun to his home,
some carrying the litter of quetzal feathers in which he
reclined, while others went in front shouting and fighting
gaily. Arrived at the extreme west they transferred
the sun to’ the dead of Mictlan, and went in quest of
their spindles, shuttles, baskets, and other implements
necessary for weaving or household work.” The only
other persons who are mentioned as being admitted to
the Sun House, were merchants who died on their jour-
ney. After four years of this life the souls of the war-
riors pass into birds of beautiful plumage, which live on
the honey of flowers growing in the celestial gardens
or seek their sustenance on earth.”

The second place of bliss was Tlalocan, the abode of
Tlaloc, a terrestrial paradise, the source of the rivers
and all the nourishment of the earth, where joy reigns
and sorrow is unknown,” where every imaginable pro-
duct of the field and garden grows in profusion beneath
a perpetual summer sky. ‘This paradise appears to
have been erected on the ideal reminiscences of the
happy Tollan, the cradle of the race, where their fathers

‘When the midwife speaks to 9 woman whe has died in childbed, she
refers to the noble manner in which she has used the sword and shield, a
figure of speech which is probably intended to represent tue high estimation
in which they held her.’ Jd., tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 189.

6 ‘ Descendian acd A la tierra.’ Jb. But it is as likely that they used
the weaving implements supplied to them at the grave, as those of the
living. Brasseur de Bourbourg says that the inhabitants of this region had
day when the inhabitants of the earth slept; but since the women resumed
their work after the setting of the sun, itis more likely that they always had
light-up there, and that they never slept. Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 497.

61 the humming-bird, the emblem and attribute of the war-god, offered
on the grave in the month of Quecholli, probably referred to this transfor-
mation, Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib., ii., p. 164, lib. iv., pp. 264-5, tom.
ii., lib. vi., pp. 188-9, lib. ix., p. 358; Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., p.
530. ‘Nachher werden sie theils in Wolken verwandelt, theils in Kolibris,’
Miller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, p. 661. The transformation into clouds
seems to refer to the Tlascaltecs.

6 Tlalocan is the name given by some old writers to the country between
Chiapas and Oujaca. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 496;
Brinton'’s Myths, pp. 88-9. It may also be the place referred to under the
names of Tamoancha, Xuchitlycacan. Explanation of the Codex Teileriano-
Remensis, in Kingsborough'’s Mew, Antig., vol. vi., p. 127.

534 FUTURE STATE.

reveled in richess and splendor. To this place went
those who had been Rilled by lightning, the drowned,
those suffering from itch, gout, tumors, dropsy, leprosy
and other incurable diseases. Children also, at least
those who were sacrificed to the Tlalocs, pliyed about
in its gardens, and once a year they descended among
the living in an invisible form to join in their festi-
vals.* It is doubtful, however, whether this paradise
was perpetual, for according to some authors the dis-
eased stayed here but a short time, and then
on to Mictlan; while the children, balked of their life
by death or sacrifice, were allowed to essay it again.”
The third destination of the dead, provided for those
who died of ordinary diseases or old age, and, accord-
ingly, for the great majority, was Mictlan, ‘the place of
the dead,’ which is described as a vast, pathless place, a
land of darkness and desolation, where the dead after
their time of probation are sunk in a sleep that knows
no waking. In addressing the corpse they spoke of this
place of Mictlan as a ‘most obscure land, where light
cometh not, and whence none can ever return.’"* There
are several points, however, given by Sahagun, as well
as other writers, which tend to modify this aspect of
Mictlan. The lords and nobles seem even here to have
kept up the barriers which separated them from the con-
taminating touch of inferiors, and doubtless the good
and respectable were classed apart from low miscreants
and criminals, for there were nine divisions in Mictlan,
of which Chicohnahuimictlan or Ninth-Mictlan, was the

ot Mendicia” ‘tot’ Holes p97 Torquemada, Me Ind i
endieta, Hist, Ecles., p. 97; ada, Monarg. Jnd., tom. ii., pp.
82, 529. The remarks of tie above authors with eid Oe to those who tite
of diseases may, however, refer to sufferers from ordinary afflictions, who
were from all doomed to Mictlan. In Explanation of the Codex Vatlicanus, in
Kingsborough’s Mee. Antiq., vol. vi., pp. 169-71, all who die of diseases and
a violent death are consigned to Mictlan. Brinton’s Myths, Pp. 246-7; Alger's
Future Life, pp. 475-6. Chevalier, Mew. Ancien et Mod., p. 91, who regurds
the sun as heaven, and Mictlan os hell, considers this an intermediate and
incomplete paradise. Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. iii., p. 264; Clavigero,
Storia Ant, del Messico, tom. ii., p. 5.

65 Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. opp 260-1, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 176;
Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., p. 529; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist.
Nat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 571; Tezozomoc, Hist. Mew., tom. i., pp. 329, 331.

ve went
rowned,
leprosy
at least
1d about
| among
ir festi-
paradise
the dis-
L
neir life
again.”
for those
_accord-
place of
place, a
ad after
t knows
e of this
are light
5 §6There
as well
spect of
to have
the con-
he good
screants
Mictlan,
was the

m, ii., pp.
se who Me
tions, who
nlicanus, in

ho regurd

ediate and
Cla ’
vi., p. 176;

urg, Hist.
, 331.

MICTLAN. 535

abode of the Aztec Pluto and his Proserpine. This name
seems also to have been applied to the whole region,
meaning then the nine Mictlans.“ The different idol-
mantles in which the dead person was attired, deter-
mi:.ed by his profession and by his manner of death,
would imply that different gods had control of these
divisions.” Whatever distinction there may have been
was kept up by the humbler or richer offerings of food,
clothing, implements, and slaves, made at the time of the
burial, at the end of eighty days, and on the first, second
third, and fourth anniversary of the death; all of which
went before Mictlantecutli before being turned over to
the use of the person for whom they were destined.” In
one place Sahagun states that four years were passed in
traveling before the soul reached Mictlan, and on another
page he distinctly implies that this term was passed
within that region, when he says that the dead awoke
from their sleep as the sun reached the western horizon,
and rose to escort it through their land; Torquemada
says that four days were occupied in the journey.” The
only way to reconcile these statements is by supposing
that the soul passed from one division to another, until
it finally, at the end of the four years, reached Mictlan
proper, or Ninth-Mictlan, and attained repose. Their
duties during this term consisting in escorting the sun,
and working like their happier brethren in the Sun
House, besides passing a certain time in sleep. The fact
that the people besought the dead to visit them during
the festival in their honor, implies that they were within
Mictlan, though their liberty there, at that season,

6 Id., p. 329. ‘Le plus commun est Chiucnauh-Mictlan, les Pag séjours
des Morts.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. iii., Pp. 495; Mendieta,
Hist. Ecles, p. 97; Sahaqun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. iii., p. 263,

67 This seems also to be the idea of Gomara, Cong. Mex. fol. 308-9, although
he makes the heavens distinct from one unother, and includes the Sun House
and Tlalocan in the list.

68 Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., p. 166, lib. iii., p. 263.

69 Monarg. Ind., tom. ii., p. 522, The fact that offerings and prayers
were kept up for four days by the mourners, confirms this statement. Saha-
gun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. iii., p. 263, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 189, ‘Until
souls had arrived at the destined place at the expiration of these four years,
they had to encounter much hardship, cold, and toil.’ Hxplanation of the Codex
Tvlleriano-Remensis, in Kingsborough’s Mex, Antig., vol. vi., p. 96.

SS PR ap ne TRADE EE AE RP NEE EE

586 FUTURE STATE

at least, was not so very restricted. ‘As they helped to
escort the sun, we must suppose that they also enjoyed
the blessings of sunshine while terrestrial beings slept,
and the expression of Tezozomoc, a place where none
knows whether it be night or day, a place of eternal
rest,’ must refer to those only who have passed the time
of probation, and lapsed into the final sleep. It may be
however, that the sun was lustreless at night, for Ca-
margo states that it slept after its journey.” If so, the
dim twilight noticed among the northern people, or the
moon, the deity of the night, must have replaced the
obscured brightness of the sun, if lights indeed were
needed, for the escort and the ‘workers could scarcely
have used artificial illumination. The route of the sun
further indicates that Mictlan was situated in the anti-
podean regions, or rather in the centre of the earth, to
which the term ‘dark and pathless regions’ also applies.
This is the supposition of Clavigero, who bases it on the
fact that Tlalxicco, the name of Mictlantecutli’s temple,
signifies center or bowels of the earth.” But Sahagun
and others place it in the north, and support this asser-
tion by showing that Mictlampa signified north.” The
fact that the people turned the face to the north when call-
ing upon the dead,” is strongly in favor of this theory;
the north is also the dark quarter. These apparently con-
tradictory statements may be reconciied by supposing
that Mictlan was situated in the northern part of the
subterranean regions, as the home of the heroes was in
the eastern part of the heavens.

As the warrior in the Sun House passes after four

10 Tlist. Tlax, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcviii., p. 193;
Tezozomoc, Hist, Mece., tom. i., p. 381. ‘When the sun sets, it goes to give
light to the dead.’ Explanation of the Codex Telleriano-fiemensis, in Kings-

h’s Mex. Antiq., vol. vi.,

11 Storia Ant, del Messico, tom. ii., p. 6. Tlalxicco may be considered as
hell proper, and distinct from Mictlan, and may have been ruled over by
Tzontemoc who mast then be a as distinct from Mictlantecutli. Kings-
borough’s Mex. Antig., vol. vi., p. 219.

" Mictlampaehecatl, the north-wind, is said to come from hell. Sahagun,
ag Gen., tom. ii., lib. vii., pp. 253, 256-7; Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom.
i

e ‘planation of the Codew Vaticanus, in Kingsborough’s Mex. Antiq., vol.
vi., pp -9)

Iped to
njoyed
8 slept,
e none
eternal
1e time
may be
or Ca-
so, the
or the
ed the
1 were
carcely
the sun
e anti-
rth, to
vpplies.
on the
temple,
ahagun
3 asser-
Pp ='The
bn call-
heory ;
lly con-
posing
of the

as in

r four

p. 193;
to give
Kings-

ered as
pver by
Kings-

nar in,
., tom,

iq.» vol.

THE JOURNEY OF THE DEAD. 587

years of perfect enjoyment into a‘scemingly less happy
state, so the Mictlan probationer appears to have aban-
doned his work for a condition of everlasting repose.”
This condition is already indicated by the very signifi-
cation of the name Mictlan, ‘ place of the dead,’ and by
the preceding statements; it also implied by the myth of
the creation of man, wherein the god-heroes say to
Xolotl: Go beg of Mictlantecutli, Lord of Hades, that he
may give the a bone or some ashes of the dead that are
with him.”

I will now revert to the terrible four days’ jour-
ney,” which those who were unfortunate enough to
die a peaceful death had to perform before they could
attain their negative happiness. Fully impressed with
the idea of its hardships, the friends of the deceased
held it to be a religious duty to provide him with a full
outfit of food, clothing, implements, and even slaves, to
enable him to pass safely through the ordeal. Idols were
also deposited by his side, and if the dead man were a
lord, his chaplain was sent to tend to their service.
This maintenance of worship during the journey is also
implied by the sprinkling of water upon the ashes with
the words: Let the dead wash himself.” ‘The officiating
priests, laid, besides, passports with the body, which
which were to serve for various points along the road.
The first papers passed him by two mountains, which,
like the symplegades, threatened to meet and crush him
in their embrace. The second was a pass for the road
guarded by a big snake; the other papers took him by
the green crocodile, Xochitonal, across eight deserts, and
over eight hills. Then caine the freezing «ézehecaya,

7 ‘Despues de pasados cuatro aiios, el difunto se salfay se iba 4 los
nueve infiernos....en este lugar del infierno que se Hamaba Chicunamictla,
se acababan y fenecian los difuntos.’ Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. iii., p.
263; see also note 8. Atthe end of four years the souls came to a place
where they enjoyed a certain degree of repose. Explanation of the Codex Vati-
cunus, in Kingsborough’s Mex. Antig., vol. vi., p. 218.

75 This vol., p. 59; sce also, pp. 296-402.

7 See not 12, Four was the most sacred number among the Mexicans as
well as the other nations of America, and is derived from the adoration of
the cardinal points. Brinton’s Myths, p. 67. The Central Americans believe.

that the soul arrived at its destination in four days after death.
7 Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. iii., p. 263,

588 FUTURE STATE.

‘wind of knives,’ which hurls stones and knives upon
the traveler, who now more tlian ever finds the offerings
of his friends of service. How the poor soul escaped this
ordeal is not stated. Lastly he came to the broad river
Chiconahuapan ‘nine waters,’ which could be crossed
only upon the back of a dog of reddish color, which was
killed for this purposes by thrusting an arrow down its
throat, and was burnt with the corpse. According to
Gomara, the dog served for a guide te Mictlan, but other
authors state that it preceded its master, and when he
arrived at the river, he found it on the opposite bank,
waiting with a number of others for their owners, As
soon as the dog recognized its master, it swam over, and
bore him safely across the rushing current. A cotton
string tied round its neck when placed upon the pyre
may have served to distinguish it from other dogs, or as
a passport.” The traveler was now taken before Mict-
lantecutli, to whom he presented the passports together
with gifts consisting of candlewood, perfime-canes, soft
threads of plain and colored cotton, 2 piece of cloth, a
mantle and other articles of clothing, and was thereupon
assigned to his sphere. Women underwent the same
ordeal.” Camargo mentions a paradise above the nine
heavens, occupied by the goddess of love, where dwarfs,
fuols, and hunchbacks danced and sang for her amuse-
ment, but whether these beings were of human or divine
origin is not stated.” At times the old chroniclers con-
sider Mictlan as a place of punishment,” but the priests

78 * Pour qu'il ne fit pas entrainé en traversant le Styx indien.’ Biart,
Terre Tempérée, p. 280; Gomara, Cong. Meg,, fol. 309. ‘Los porres de pelo
blanco y negro, no podian nadar y pasar él rio, porque dizqne decia el porro
de pelo negro: ‘‘yo me labé"’ y el perro de pelo blinco Becin: ‘yo me he
manchado de color prieto, y por exo no uedo pasaros’' solamente el perro
de pelo vermejo podia pas.’ Sahagun, Hist, Gen., tom. i., lib. iii., p. 263,

9 Sahayun, Hist, Gen,, tom. i., lib. iii, pp. 260-4; Torquemada, Monarg.
Ind., tom, ii., pp. 528-30; Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., pp. 5-6;
vol. ii., pp. 603-19, of this work.

80 Hist, Tlaw., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1848, tom. xcix., pp. 192-3,

8 ‘Tenian por cierto, que en el infierno habian de padecer diversas penas
conforme 4 la calidad de los delitos.’ Mendieta, Hist. Evles., p, 83. ‘ Entén-
ces todos seran castigados conforme 4 sus obras.’ Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom.
ii., lib. vii., pp. 36-7; Torquemada, Monargq. Ind., tom. ii., p.80. ‘Tis étaient
plongés dans une obscurité profonde, livrés & leurs remords.’ Clrvalier,
Mex. Ancien et Mod, p. 91.

} upon
ferings
1d this
| river
rossed
wh was
wn its
ing to
t other
nen he
bank,
3. As
or, and
cotton
2 pyre
, or as
» Mict-
wether
es, soft
loth, a
eupon

same
le nine
warts,
muse-

ivine
$8 con-

riests

’ Biart,

de pelo

‘| porro

> me he

el perro
¢ [j )

Monarg.
pp. 5-6;

étaient
alier,

THE FUTURE OF THE TLASCALTECS.

in their homilies never appear to have urged repentance
for the purpose of escaping future punishment, but merely
to avoid earthly inflictions, visited upon them or their
children.” The philanthropist whose whole life had
been one continuous act of benevolence, the wise prince
who had lived but for his country’s good, the saintly her-
mit, the pious priest who had passed his days in per-
petual fasts, penance, and self-torture, all were consigned
to Mictlan, together with the drunkard, the mur-
derer, the thief, and none were exempt from the terrible
journey, or from the long probation which ends in eternal
sleep. ‘They may have accounted to themselves for the
manifest unfairness of this system by means of their
belief in predestination, which taught that the sign under
which a man was born determined to a great extent, if
not entirely, his character, career, and consequently his
future.* Mictlan cannot, therefore, be regarded as a hell;
it is but a place of negative punishment, a Nirvana, in
which the soul is at last blown out and lost.

The Tlascaltecs supposed that the souls of people of
rank entered after death into the bodies of the higher
animals, or even into clouds and gems, while common

82 ‘Padecen por los pecados de sus padres.’ Sahagqun, Hist, Gen., tom. ii.,
lib., vi, p. 36. Their prayers and penances, says Acosta, were merely on
account of corporal inflictions, for t ey certainly feared no punishment in
the world to come, but expected that all would rest there. Hist, de las Ynd.,
p. 383, ‘In the destiny they assigned to the wicked, we discern similar
traces of refinement; since the nbscence of all physical torture forms a strik-
ing contrast to the schemes of suffering so ingeniously devised by the fancies
of the most enlightened nations. In all this, so contrary to the natural
suggestions of the ferocious Aztec, we see the evidences of a higher civiliza-
tion, inherited from their predecessors in the land.’ Prescott’s Mew., vol. i.,

. 62-3,

Pas Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. i., bib. iii., p. 267, et neq,

4 The reader who thinks upon the subject at uii, caw sot help being struck
by the remarkable resemblance in some pointe between these future abodes
of the Mexicans and those of the ancient Greeks and Romans, ‘The trem-
bling soul has to pass over the same dreadf.,! river, ferried by a brute Charon,
In Hades as in Mictlan, the condition of the dend was a shadowy sort of ap-
parent life, in which, mere ghosts of their former selves, they continued
dreamily to perform the labors and carry on the occupations to which they
had been accustomed on earth. In Greece as in Mexico, the shades of the
dead were ovcasionally permitted to visit their friends on earth, summoned

a sacrifice and religious rites. Neither Elysion nor the glorious Sun

cuse was the reward of the purely good so much as of the favorites of the
gods, Such points of resemblance as these are, howover, unnoticed by those
who theorize concerning the origin of the Americans; they go farthor tor
analogies, and perhaps fare worse,

540 FUTURE STATE.

souls passed into lower animal forms.” With the Mexi-
cans they believed that little children who died were
given another trial of earth-life. In Goatzacoalco the
bones of the dead were so placed that the soul might
have no difficulty in finding them.” In the Aztec crea-
tion-myth we have seen that out of bone man was
formed, and Brinton considers this, together with in-
stances of the careful preservation of remains to be
noticed in different parts of America, evidence of a wide-
spread belief that the soul resided in the bones. This
receives further confirmation in the Quiché legend which
relates that the bones of certain heroes were ground to
powder to prevent their removal.” Yet the idea does not
accord with the Mexican custom of placing a stone
between the lips of the dead to serve as heart, and,
doubtless, to hold the soul as the Quichés supposed.
Hither instance, however, implies a belief in several
souls, although no reference is made to such plurality.
The Tlasaltecs had guardian spirits which were em-
bodied in the idols called tepictoton, and Camargo men-
tions angels who inhabited the air and influenced thun-
der, winds, and other phenomena, and who were doubt-
less the children of Tlalocan.” A devil they could
scarcely have had, for evil mingled too liberally in the
nature of most of the Mexican gods to admit of its per-
sonification by one alone. The nearest approach to owr
Satan was to be found in a phantom called 'Tlacatecolott,
the ‘owlish one’® who roamed about doing mischief;
to see an owl was accordingly held to be an evil sign,
and much dreaded. Will o' the wisps were regarded as
transformed wizards and witches, or animals.” The
Tlascaltecs supposed that the sparks which sped away

$3 Clavigero, Storia Ant. det Messioe, tom. ti., p. 5; Mendieta, Hist, Bele.
” % Alger's Future Life, pp. 475-6.

. a. Hist. em dec. hg ix., cap. vii. -
- ng 258; Brasseur ve Rourbourg, Popol Vuh

Torguemadn, Monarq. Ind., tom. ii., & 64.
To ada, . Ind., p. 81. ‘Tilacatecoloti, demonio o diablo.’
Molina, Dicciona

rio.
% Mendieta, Hist, Heles., p. 109.

Mexi-
- were
10 the
might
: crea-
n was
th in-
to be
wide-

This
which
und to
es not

FUTURE OF THE OTOMIS, MIZTECS, AND MAYAS. 541

from the craters of volcanoes were the souls of tyrants
sent forth by the gods to torment the people.”

The Otomfs believed that the soul died with the
body,” while the Tarascos, according to Herrera, admit-
ted a future judgment, with its accompaniments of
heaven and hell, but to judge from their burial customs,
with immolation of attendants, term of mourning, and so
forth, it would appear that they had the same belief as
the Aztecs.”

The Miztecs placed the gates of paradise within the
cavern of Chaleatongo, and the grandees of the kingdom
were therefore eager to be buried within its precincts,
in order to be near the abode of bliss. The Zapotecs
placed the heavenly portals within the cave of Mictlan.
Their heaven must accordingly have been situated with-
in the earth, although the custom of placing the dead
with their feet towards the east indicates that it lay to-
ward the sunny morning land. The common people at
least seem, like the Aztecs, to have been required to pass
a probationary term before entering the holy place, and
during this neriod they were permitted to visit their
friends on e:rt!: once @ year, and partake of the repast
spread for them. The Zapotecs gave as a reason for in-
terring the dead, that those who were burned failed to
reach heaven.”

The Mayas believed in a place of everlasting de-
light, where the good should recline in voluptuous repose
beneath the shade of the yavché,” indulging in dainty

# ‘The inhabitants suppose kinges (who, while they lined, gouerned
amisse) to haue a ey aboade there being companions with diuels
amonge those flames, where they may purge the foule spots of their wicked-
nese,’ Peter Martyr, dec. v., lib. ii.

% Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 4: Mendieta, Hist. Ecles.,

. 96,
4 % list, Gen., dec, iii., li. iii., cap. x.; Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mew., tom.
i., P. 292; vol. ii., Pp. 620-2, of this work.

% Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom, ii., fol. 230-1, tom. i., fol. 159-61; Clari-
gero, Storia Ant. del Measico, tom. ii., p. 5; Explanation of the Codex Telleriano-
Remensis, in Kingsborough’s Mex. Antig,, vol. vi., p. 96; Jd., Codex Vaticanus,
p. 218; vol, ii., pp. 622-3, of this work.

% ‘Le Yaxché, qui signitie arbre vert, est probablement le méme que le
tonacaste ou tonacazquahuitl, arbe au trone puissant et élevé, au fetiillage
immense, mais menu et serré, dont la beauté et l’extréme fraicheur lui ont

642 FUTURE STATE,

food and delicious drinks. Those who died by hanging
were especially sure of admittance to this paradise, for
their goddess Ixtab carried them thither herself, and
many enthusiasts committed suicide with this expecta-
tion. The wicked, on the other hand, descended into
Mitnal,” a sphere below this, where hunger and other
torments awaited them. Cacao money was laid with
the body to pay its way, and frequent offerings of food
were made, but thé funeral was not proceeded with un-
til the fifth day, when the soul had entered its sphere.
A trace of metempsychosis may be noticed in the super-
stitious belief that sorcerers transformed people into ani-
mals.”

Whether the Quichés believed in a future reward and
punishment is uncertain, for on the one hand we are
told that Xibalba, which implies a place of terror, was
thei: hell, where ruled two princes bearing the sugges-
tive names of One Death and Seven Deaths; while, on
the other hand, the sacrifice of slaves and other objects,
implies a negative punishment. A gentle, unwarlike
tribe of Guatemala is said to have had a belief similar
to that of the Pericuis, namely that a future life was ac-
corded to those only who died a natural death, and,
therefore, they left the bodies of the slain to beasts and
vultures.” The Pipiles appear to have looked forward to
the same future abodes as the Mexicans, and to the
same dreadful journey after death. During the four
days and four nights that the soul was on the road, the
mourners wailed deeply, probably with fear for its
siufety, but on the fifth day, when the priest announced
that it had reached the goal, the lamentation ceased.
During this time also, the mother whose infant had de-

fait donner le nom d’arbre de la vie.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Landa, Rela-
n, p, 2.0.
97 An evident corruption of Mictlan,

9 ‘Dezian se lo (el difunto) avia Nevado el diablo porque del pensavan
les veniun los males todos y especial la muerte.’ Landa, Relavion, p. 196,,
198-202; Cogolludo, Hist. Yue., Pp. 1/2; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist, Nat.
cm tom, . pp. 62-3; Carrillo, in Mex. Soc. Geog., Boletin, 2da época, tom,

iii., pp. 265-6.
w Benton's Myths, p. 246; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, pp. Ixxix.-
Ixxx., oxxviii,-cxxx; vol. ii., p. 799, of this work.

anging
ise, for
lf, and
x pecta-
ad into
| other
d with
of food
ith un-
sphere.
. super-
ito ani-

rd and
we are
or, Was
sugges-
hile, on
objects,
warlike
similar
a8 ac-
1, and,
ts and
ard to
to the
e four

1, the
for its
unced
eased.
ad de-

Ha, Rela-

PNnsaAVAn

FUTURE OF THE NICARAGUANS, 548

parted withheld the milk from all other children, lest
the thirsty little wanderer should be angry, and smite
the usurper."” The probationary routine of the spirits
appears to have called them to the earth at intervals, for
a legend of the isles of Lake [lopango recounts that at
certain times of the year spectre barks glide in silence
over the tranquil waters of the lake, anointing every
island from the least to the greatest, offering upon each
to some bloody divinity of past times a human victim,
an infant chosen by lot.’

The same view of futurity was taken by the Nicara-
guans, who thought that the souls™ of slain warriors
went to the sunrise regions,’ the abode of Tamagostat
and Cipattonal, who welcomed them with the title of
‘our children,’ But all the good, that is those who had
obeyed and reverenced the gods, were admitted here,
whether warriors or not, and strong must have been
their fuith in the bliss that awaited them, for the
virgins, says Andagoya, who were cast as offerings into
the seething lava streams of the volcano met their fate
without fear." The wicked were doomed to annihila-
tion in the abode of Miquetanteot.™ Infants who died
before they were weaned returned to the house of their
parents to be cared for, evidently in spirit form."* The
Mosquitos believe in one heaven only, and this is open to
all; for it they prepare at the very beginning of life by
tying a little bag of seeds round the neck of the infant,
wherewith to pay the ferriage across the great river be-
yond which paradise lies.” In and about Veragua death

10 Palacio, Carta, pp. 76-8.

101 Dollfus and Mont-Serrat, Voy. Géolojique, p, 12,

102 Yolia or yulia derived from yoli, to live is distinct from heart, yollotli.
Buschmann, Ortsnamen, p. 159, Yet the heart was evidently considered 1s
the seat of the soul, for some Indians stated that ‘el coragon va arriba,’
while others % lained that by this was meant the breath. Oviedo, Misi, Gen,
tom. iv., pp. 44-5.

103 Navarrete, Col, de Viages, tom, iii., p. 415.

104 Corresponding to the Aztec Mictlantecutli. It is not quite clear
whether all ugreed spon total annihilation in this place.

105 * Han de ag é tornar 4 casa de sus padres, é sus padres los co-

nosecran ¢ criardn,’ Oviedo, Hist. Gen,, tom, iv., pp. 41, 42-9; Brinton's Myths,

pp. 145, 235; Brasseur de Bourbourg, ‘Hist. Nat. C iy., tom, ii, » pp. 113-4.

1% Bell adds that this ferriage money was provided lest the child ‘should
o youn, f° ’ Offerings are also placed upon the grave. Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour.,
vol, xxx

pp. 254-

644 FUTURE STATE.

means annihilation, and no food is left for the dead. In
some places the dying are carried out to the woods and
abandoned to wild beasts." In Costa Rica and Darien
slaves and even wives are sacrificed that their souls
may serve their lords in heaven.’®

Writing on the customs of Dabaiba, Peter Martyr
says: ‘They are such simple men, that they know not
how to call the soule, nor vnderstand the power thereof:
whereupon, they often talk among themselues with ad-
miration what that inuisible and not intelligible essence
might bee, whereby the members of men and brute
beastes should be moued: I know not what secret thing
they say, should liue after the corporall life. That (1
know not what) they beleeue that after this peregrina-
tion, if it liued without spott, and reserued that masse
committed vnto it without iniury done to any, it shoulde
goe to a certayne wternall felicity: contrary, if it shall
suffer the same to be corrupted with any filthy lust,
violent rapine, or raging furie, they say, it shall finde a
thousande tortures in rough and vnpleasant places vnder
the Center: and speaking these things, lifting vpp their
the handes they shewe the heauens, and after that casting
right hand down, they poynt to the wombe of the
earth’! ‘Their belief in a future punishment he further
illustrates by relating that ‘ the thicke spott seene in the
globe of the Moone, at the full, is a mann, and they be-
leeue hee was cast out to the moyst, and colde Circle of
the Moone, that hee might perpetually bee tormented
betweene those two passions, in suffering colde, and moys-
ture, for incest committed with his sister.’

The following myths, for which I am indebted to the
kindness and industrious investigation of Mr Powers,
having come to hand too late for insertion: in their

107 ‘ They suppose that men do naturally line and die as other beastes do.’
Peter Martyr, dec. iii., lib. iv.

108 ‘ Aquel humo iba donde estaba el Anima de aquel defunto. ...enel cielo,
y que en el humo iba alla.’ Andagoya, in Navarrete, Col, de Viages, tom. iii.,
p. ; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. i., lib. vii., cap. xvi., dee. ii., lib. iii., cap.
v.; Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 265; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 142.
109 Deo, vii., lib. x.

adi. In
ds and
Darien
r souls

Martyr
ow not
hereof:
ith ad-
essence
1 brute
t thing
Nhat (1
egrina-
[| masse
shoulde
it shall
ny lust,
finde a
3 vnder
pp their
casting
of the
further
b in the
1ey be-
rele of
ented
moys-

to the
rowers,
their

o8 do.’

el cielo,
om. iii.,
iii., Cap.

THE COYOTE’S ELOPEMENT. 545.

proper places I avail myself of the opportunity to give
them here:—There dwells, say the Neeshenams, upon the
hills and in the forests, a ghost named Béhem Ciilleh,
which is at once man and woman. It is a bad spirit, but
nevertheless a useful one to those who seek its aid, and
these are mostly bad people. Sometimes in the night its
wierd eldritch cry is heard im the forest, and then some
woman about to be overtaken in dishonest childbirth goes
out into the woods alone, with her shame and her pangs
upon her, and having brought forth, presently returns,
crying and lamenting that the wicked ghost met and
overcame her and that she has conceived of the spirit.
Or perhaps it is a man who has wrought an evil thing
who makes this bad spirit responsible for his wickedness.
Kither a man or a woman wandering alone in the forest
is exposed to the enticements of the ghost Bohem Ciilleh,
to commit fornication with it.

‘The Coyote’s Elopement’ forms the subject of another
Neeshenam tale. It is as follows—The coyote and the
bat were one day gathering the soft-shelled nuts of the
sugar pine, when there came along two women-deer
(the only way they have of expressing ‘female deer’ ),
who were the wives of pigeons. The coyote, upon this,
took a handful of pitch and besmeared the bat’s eyes so
that it could not see. The poor bat was totally blinded,
but it called upon the wind to blow, and its eyes were
opened a little, as we see them to-day. Meantime the
rascally coyote eloped with the two women-deer. But
it was not long before they came to a bridge so extremely
narrow that they could not pass over it. Just then there
came along a quail, and he took the two women-deer
and led them across, leaving the bigamous coyote in the
lurch. No sooner had they crossed than the sister of
the pigeons took the quail away to his mother’s camp,
and thus the women-deer were set at liberty, and re-
covered by their husbands, the pigeons.

“In this story,” says Mr Powers, “ as in many others,
we have something analogous to the were-wolves and
swan-maidens of the medieval legends. It also illustrates

Vol. III. 26

546 FUTURE STATE.

the Indian belief in the common origin of all animals.
Their favorite theory is, that the man originated from the
coyote, and the woman from the deer. Wherefore this
story probably gives us a glimpse of the first courtship
recorded of the human race, when the animals had so
developed, strictly in accordance with the Darwinian
programme, that man was‘ about to appear upon the
scene. The failure of the coyote’s elopement delayed
that auspicious event a little while.”

Another Neeshenam legend relates that there was
once a medicine-man who possessed the wonderful faculty
of turning himself into a bear for a brief season. When
one of his patients was extremely ill, and, according to
custom, he sucked him to extract the injurious matter,
he would presently be seized with a spasm. Falling
upon all fours, he would find his hands and feet sprawled
along the ground in plantigrade fashion, his nails would
grow long and sharp, a short tail would sprout forth,
hair would spring up all over his body, in short he would
become a raging, roaring bear. When the spasm had
passed away, he would return to the human form.

According to yet another Neeshenam tradition, there
lived long, long ago a very terrible old man, whose chief
delight it was to kill and devour Indians. He had stone
mortars in which he pounded the flesh to make it tender
for eating. Far down on the Sacramento plains, thirty or
forty miles away, he and his wife lived together, and
around their wigwam the blood of Indians lay a foot
deep. The Indians all made war on them and tried to
kill them, but they could do nothing against them.
Then at last the Old Coyote took pity on the Indians
whom he had created, and he determined to kill this
old man. He was accustomed to go into the great round
dance-house when the Indians were assembled within
it, and slay the chief. So the Old Coyote dug a deep
hole just outside the door, and hid himself in it, armed
with a big knife. The knife was just on a level with the
ground, and when the old man came along, going into
the dance-house, he saw it, and gave a kick at it, but

imals.
om the
re this
urtship
had 80
winian
yon the
lelayed

re was
faculty

When
ding to
matter,
Falling
prawled
ls would
nt forth,
he would
Asim had

bn, there
ose chief
ad stone
+ tender
hirty or
rer, and
iV a foot
tried to
t them.
Tndians
ill this
at round
within
rn deep
, armed
with the
ing into
t it, but

SHASTA LEGENDS. 647

did not notice the Coyote, who immediately jumped out
of his hole, ran into the dance-house, and killed the old
man.

This story, Mr Powers thinks probably refers to some
long extinct race of cannibals who were superior in
power to the present race. ‘To them,” he says, “may
be assigned the stone mortars found in so many parts of
California, which the Indians now living here confes-
sedly did not make. Others account for these stone
mortars by saying they were made by the chief of the
spirits, Haylin Kakeeny, and his subordinates.”

The following queer legends are, on the indisputable
authority of Mr Powers, of Shasta origin: The world
was created by Old Groundmole, édidoc, a huge animal
that heaved creation into existence on its back, by
rooting underneath somewhere. When the flood came
it destroyed all animals except a squirrel, as large as a
bear, which exists to this day on a mountain called by
the Shastas, Wakwaynuma, near Happy Camp.

A long time ago there was a fire-stone in the distant
east, white and glistening, like the purest quartz; and the
coyote journeyed east, brought this fire-stone and
gave it to the Indians, and that was the origin of
fire.

Originally the sun had nine brothers, all, like him-
self, flaming hot with fire, so that the world was
like to perish; but the coyote slew nine of the broth-
ers, and thus saved mankind from burning up. The
moon also had nine brothers, all like to himself,
made of the coldest ice, so that in the night people
went near to freeze to death. But the coyote went
away out on the eastern edge of the world with a
mighty big knife of flint stone, heated stones to keep his
hands warm, then laid hold of the nine moons, one after
another, and slew them likewise, and thus men got warm
again.

When it rains, there is some Indian sick in heaven,
weeping. Long, long ago there was a good young Indian
on earth, and when he died all the Indians cried so much

548 FUTURE STATE.

that a flood came on the earth and rose up to heaven,
and drowned all people except one couple.

The Chénposels relate that there was once a man
who loved two women, and wished to marry them.
Now, these two women were magpies, atchatch, and they
loved him not, but laughed his wooing to scorn. Then
he fell into a rage and cursed these two women that
were magpies and went far away to the north, and there
he set the world on fire, made for himself a tule boat
in which he escaped to sea, and was never heard of
more. But the fire which he had kindled burned with
a mighty burning. It ate its way south with terrible
swiftness, licking up all things that are on earth—men,
trees, rocks, animals, water, and even the ground itself.
But the Old Coyote saw the burning and smoke from
his place far in the south, and he ran with all his might
to put it out. He took two little boys in a sack on
his back, and ran north like the wind. So fast did
he run that he gave out just as he got to the fire, and
dropped the two little boys. But he took Indian sugar
(honey dew) in his mouth, chewed it up, spat it on the
fire and put it out. Now the fire was out, but the Coyote
was very thirsty, but there was no water, so he
took Indian sugar again, chewed it up, dug a hole in
the bottom of the creek, covered up the sugar in it, and
it turned to water, and the earth thus had water again.
But the two little boys cried because they were lonely
for there was nobody on earth. ‘Then the Coyote made
a sweat-house, and split up a great number of little
sticks, which he laid in the sweat-house over night; in
the morning they were all turned into men and women,
so the two little boys had company, and the earth was
repeopled.”° ’

I conclude with a sun-myth of the Pallawonaps, who
lived on Kern River in Southern California: —Pokdh

110 «* Tt is possible’ concludes Mr Powers, ‘that this legend has dim re-
ference to that great ancient cataclysm, or overflow of lava from the north,
which has been demonstrated by Professor le Uonte, in a paper read before
the Californian Academy of Science.

eaven,

. man
them.
d they
Then
n that
1 there
le boat
ard of
1d with
terrible
—men,
d itself.
e from
s might
sack on
ast did
ire, and
n sugar
on the
Coyote
so he
hole in
it, and
r again.
lonely
2 made
bf little
ight; in
omen,
th was

ps, who
Pokdh

s dim re-
he north,
bad before

SUN-MYTH OF THE PALLAWONAPS. 540

made all things. Longagothe sun wasaman. The sun
is bad and wishes to kill all things, but the moon is good.
The sun’s rays are arrows, and he gives a bundle to every
creature, more to the lion, fewer to the coyote, etc.; but to
none does he give an arrow that will slay aman. Thecoyo-
te wished to go to the sun, and he asked Pokdh the road.
Pokdh pointed out to him a good road, and the coyote
traveled on it all day, but the sun turned round, so he
traveled in # circle, and came back at night to the place
whence he had started in the morning. A second time
he asked Pokdh, and a second time he came back
in a circle. Then Pokdh told him to go straight to the
eastern edge of the earth, and wait there until the sun
came up. So the coyote went and sat down on the hole
where the sun came up, with his back turned to the east,
and kept pointing with his arrow in very direction, pre-
tending he was going toshoot. Thesun came up under him,
and told him to get out of the way. Put the coyote sat
there until it became so warm that he was obliged to coil
up his tail under him. Then he began to get thirsty, and
asked the sun for water. The sun gave him an acorn-
cup full, but this did not satisfy the coyote’s great thirst.
Next his shoulders began to get warm, so he spat on his
paws and rubbed his back with them. Then he said to
the sun, Why do you come up here, meddling with
me? But the sun said, Lam not meddling with you;
I am traveling where I have a right to travel. The
coyote told him to go round some other way, that that
was his road, but the sun insisted on going straight up.
Then the coyote wanted to go up with him, so the good
natured sun took him along. Presently they came to a
path with steps like a ladder, and as the sun went up he
counted the steps; when they got up above the world,
the coyote found it getting hot and wanted to jump down,
but the distance was too great. By noon the sun was
very hot and bright, and he told the coyote to shut his
eyes, He did so, but he opened them quickly again, and
so kept opening end shutting them all the afternoon, to
see how fast the sun was sliding down. When the sun

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550 FUTURE STATE.

came down to the earth in the west, the coyote jumped
off on to a tree, and so clambered down to the ground.”

Such are the Myths of the Farthest West, such
the endeavors of these men unenlightened, according
to our ideas of enlightenment, to define the indefinable,
such the result of their ‘yearning after the gods.’ Most
of their myths and beliefs are extravagant, childish,
meaningless, to our understanding of ther, but doubt-
less our myths would be the same to them. From the
beginning of time men have grappled with shadows,
have accounted for material certainties by immaterial
uncertainties. Let us be content to gather and preserve
these perishable phantoms now; they will be very curi-
ous relics in the day of the triumph of substance.

1 This myth, Mr Powers thinks, has been belittled or corrupted from
the ancient myth of the zodiac, und, in his opinion, argues for the Americans
a civilized, or at least semi-civilized, Asiatic origin,—a very far-fetched con-
clusion I should say,

3
“oun es

st, such
ecording
lefinable,
3.’ Most
childish,
it doubt-
From the
shadows,
nmaterial
| preserve
very curi-
ce.

THE NATIVE RACES

OF THE

PACIFIC STATES.

LANGUAGES.

=m

CHAPTER I.

rrupted from
the Americans
r-fetched con-

GENERAL REMARKS.

Native Lanavaces m Apvance or Socran Cusroms—Cuanactenietio Inpr-
vipuaurTy or AMERICAN Tonaukrs—FREeQuENT OccuRRENCE oF Lona
Worps—RepvupiicaTions, FREQUENTATIVES, AND Dvuats—INTERTRIBAL
Lanauacgs—GeEsTURE-LanauaGE---SLAVE AND CuInoox JaRGoNns--PACcIFIC
States Laxcuages—Tue Trnneu, Aztxc, anD Mara Tonaurs—TuHE
Larcen Faminizs Innanp—Lanovaaxs a8 A Test or Ontoin—Srmi-
LARITINS IN UNRELATED LaNnauaGEs—PLaN oY THIS INVESTIGATION.

In nothing, perhaps, do the Native Races of the Pacific
States show signs of age, and of progress from absolute
primevalism, more than in their languages. Indeed,
throughout the length and breadth of the two Americas
aboriginal tongues display greater richness, more deli-
cate gradations, and a wider scope, than from the uncul-
tured condition in which the people were found, one
would be led to suppose. Until recently, no attention
has been given by scholars to these languages; now it is
admitted that the more they are studied the more do new
beauties appear, and that in their speech these nations
are in advanoe of what their general rudeness in other

552 GENLRAL REMARKS,

respecis would imply. Nor is there that difference in
the construction of words and the scope of vocabularies
between nations which we call civilized and those called
savage, which, from the difference in their customs, in-
dustries, and polities we should expect to find; from
which it is safe to infer that in progress, after the essen-
tial corporeal requirements ure satisfied, the necessities
of the intellect, of which speech is the very first, are
not only met, but are developed and gratified beyond
what the actual necessities of the body demand. That
is, speech or no speech the body must be fed or the
animal dies, but with the absolute necessities of the
body supplied, the intellect and its supernumeraries shoot
forward beyond their relative primeval state, leaving
bodily comforts far behind. Hence, in the very outset
of what we call progress, we see the intellect assert-
ing its independence and developing those organs only
which in their turn assist its own development.
Again, under certain conditions, two nations having ad-
vanced materially and intellectually side by side up to a
certain point, may from extrinsic or incidental causes
become widely separate; one may go forward intellectu-
ally while the two remain together substantially ; one
may go forward materially while mentally there is no
apparent difference. The causes which give rise to these
strange inequalities we cannot fathom until we can
minutely retrace the progress of the people for thousands
of ages in their history; we only see, in the many ex-
amples round us, that such is the fact. A people well
advanced in art and language may, from war or famine,
become reduced to primeval penury and yet retain traces
of its former culture in its speech, but by no possibility
can rude and barbaric speech suddenly assume depth
and richness from material prosperity; from all of which
it is safe to conclude that language is the surest test of
the age of a pevple, for the mind cannot expand with-
out an improvement in speech, and speech improves
only as it is forced slowly to develop under pressure of
the mind.

mee in
ularies
> called
ms, in-
- from
essen-
essities
‘st, are
eyond

That
or the
of the
s shoot
eaving
outset
assert-
8 only
pment.
ng ad-
ptoa
causes
llectu-

; one
is no
b these
le can
sands
Ly eXe-
b well
mine,
races
bility
epth
which
est of

ith-
roves
hre of

RELATIONSHIP OF AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 558

The researches of the few philologists who have given
American languages their study have brought to light
the following facts. First, that a relationship exists
among all the tongues of the northern and southern con-
tinents; and that while certain characteristics are found
in common throughout all the languages of America,
these languages are as a whole sufficiently peculiar to be
distinguishable from the speech of all the other races of
the world. Although some of these characteristics, as
a matter of course, are found in some of the languages
of the old world—more of them in the Turanian family
than in any other,—yet nowhere on the globe are uni-
formities of speech carried over vast areas and through
innumerable and diversified races with such persistency,
as in America; nowhere are tongues so dissimilar and
yet so alike as here. In this general similarity would
be a strong ground-work for a theory of common origin,
either indigenous or foreign, but for the fact that while
the languages of America appear distinct from all other
languages of the world, and do indeed in certain respects
bear a general resemblance one to another throughout,
yet at the same time I may safely assert that on no other
continent can there be found such a multitude of distinct
languages which definitely approach one another in
scarcely a single word or syllable as in America. It is
as easy to prove from language that the nations of the
New World were originally thrown together from differ-
ent parts, and that by intermigrations, uniformity in
customs and climate, and the lapse of long ages the
people have become approximately brethren in speech,
while their incessant wars have at the same time held
them asunder and prevented a more particular uniform-
ity, as it would be to prove a common origin and subse-
quent dispersion ; without further light both theories are
alike insusceptible of proof, as are, indeed, all hypoth-
eses concerning the origin of the native races of this con-
tinent. Another fact which naturally becomes more
apparent the more we investigate the subject, particularly
as regards the nations inhabiting the western half of

554 GENERAL REMARES.

North America, is, that the innumerable diversities of
speech found among these tribes constantly tend to dis-
appear, tend to range themselves under broad divisions,
coalescing into groups and families, thereby establishing
more intimate relationship between some, and widening
the distance between others. The numbers of tongues
and dialects, which at the first appeared to be legion,
by comparison and classification are constantly being re-
duced. Could we go back, even for a few thousand years,
and follow these peoples through the turnings and twist-
ings of their nomadic existence, we should be surprised
at the rapid and complete changes constantly taking place;
we should see throughout this broad continent the tide of
human life ebbing and flowing like a mighty ocean, surg-
ing to and fro in a perpetual unrest, huge billows of
humanity rolling over forest, plain, and mountain, nations
driving out nations, absorbing, or annihilating, only to be
themselvesinevitably driven out, absorbed, or annihilated ;
we should see as a result of this interminable mixture,
languages constantly being modified, some wholly or in
part disappearing, some changing in a lesser degree, hardly
one remaining the same for any considerable length of
time. Even within the short period of our own obser-
vation, between the time of the first arrival of Europeans
and the disappearance of the natives, many changes are
apparent; while we are gazing upon them we see their
boundaries oscillate, like the play of the threads in net-
work. On the buffalo-hunting inland plains I have seen
aggregations of tribes driven out from their old camping-
ground, in some instances a thousand miles away, and
their places occupied by others; in the narrower limits
of the north-western mountains I have seen numerous
tribes extirpated by their neighbors, a remnant only
being kept as slaves. While such was the normal con-
dition of the aborigines it is not difficult to perceive in
some degree at least, the effect upon languages. Yet
while American languages are indeed, as Whitney terms
them, ‘‘the most changeful human forms of speech”’ there
are yet found indestructible characteristic elements, affil-

sities of
1 to dis-
ivisions,
blishing
yidening
tongues
. legion,
eing re-
id years,
id. twist-
urprised
1g place ;
e tide of
an, surg-
llows of
, nations
aly to be
ihilated ;
nixture,
ly or in
», hardly
ength of
In obser-
hropeans
ges are
ee their
in net-
hve seen
Amping-
ay, and
r limits
merous
t only
al con-
vive in
Yet
terms

” there

ts, affil-

LONG WORDS IN AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 665

iations which no circumstances of time or place can
wholly obliterate.

One of these characteristic elements is the frequent
occurrence of long words. Even the Otom{, the only
language in America which can be called monosyllabic,
consisting as it does, for the most part, of etymons of one
syllable, contains some comparatively long words. This
frequency of long words, the method of their construc-
tion, and the ease with which they are manufactured
constitute a striking feature in the system of unity that
pervades all American languages. The native of the
New World expresses in a single word, accompanied
perhaps by a grunt or a gesture, what a European would
employ a whole sentence to elucidate. He crowds the
greatest possible number of ideas into the most compact
form possible, as though in a multitude of words he
found weakness rather than strength,—taking their sev-
eral ideas by their monosyllabic equivalents, and joining
them in one single expression. This rule is universal;
and so these languages become as Humboldt expresses
it “like different substances in analogous forms,” in
which, as Gallatin observes, there is “an universal ten-
dency to express in the same word, not only all that
modifies or relates to the same object or action but both
the action and the object, thus concentrating in a single
expression a complex idea or several ideas, among which
there is a natural connection.” This linguistic pecul-
iarity is called by various names. Duponceau terms it
the polysynthetic stage or system, Wilhelm von Hum-
boldt the agglutinative, Lieber the holophrastic; others
the aggregative, the incorporative, and so on. As an
illustration of this peculiarity, take the Aztec word for
letter-postage, amatlacuilolitquitcatiactlahwlli, which in-
terpreted literally signifies, ‘the payment received for
carrying & paper on which something is written.’ The
Cherokees go yet further and express a whole sen-
tence in a single word—a long one it is true, but yet
one word—winitawtigeginaliskawlungtanawnelitisesti which
translated forms the sentence, ‘they will by that time

Be) GENERAL REMARKS.

have nearly finished granting favors from a distance to
thee and me.’ Other peculiarities common to all Amer-
ican languages might be mentioned, such as reduplica-
tions, or a repetition of the same syllable to express
plurals; the use of frequentatives and duals; the appli-
cation of gender to the third person of the verb; the
direct conversion of nouns, substantive and adjective,
into verbs, and their conjugation as such; peculiar gen-
eric distinctions arising from a separation of animate
from inanimate beings, and the like.

The multiplicity of tongues, even within compar-
atively narrow areas, rendered the adoption of some sort
of universal language absolutely necessary. This in-
ternational language in America is for the most part
confined to gestures, and nowhere has gesture-language
attained a higher degree of perfection than here; and
what is most remarkable, the same representatives are
employed from Alaska to Mexico and even in South
America. Thus each tribe has a certain gesture to in-
dicate its name, which is understood by all others. A
Flathead will make his tribe known by placing his hand
upon his head; a Crow by imitating the flapping of the
wings of a bird; a Nez Pereé by pointing with his finger
through his nose,and soon. Fire is generally indicated
by blowing followed by a pretended warming of the
hands, water by a pretended scooping up and drinking,
trade or exchange by crossing the fore fingers, a certain
gesture being fixed for everything necessary to carry on
a conversation. Besides this natural gesture-language
there is found in various parts an intertribal jargon
composed of words chosen to fit emergencies, from the
speech of the several neighboring nations; the words
being altered, if necessary, in construction or pronuncia-
tion to suit all. Thus in the valley of the Yukon we find
the Slavé jargon, and in the valley of the Columbia the
Chinook jargon, which latter arose originally, not as is
generally supposed conventionally between the French-
Canadian and English trappers and the natives of the
north-west solely for purposes of trade, but which origi-

‘ance to
| Amer-
juplica-
express
e appli-
rb; the
jective,
ar gen-
animate

yom par-
me sort
‘his in-
st part
anguage
re; and
ves are
1 South
e to in-
ers, A
is hand
of the
s finger
dicated
of the
inking,
certain
rry on
nguage
jargon
m the
words
luncia-
ye find
bia the
bt as is
rench-
of the
origi-

LANGUAGES OF THE PACIFIC STATES. 557

nated among the tribes themselves, spontaneously and
before the advent of Europeans, though greatly modified
and extended by subsequent European intercourse.
Thus has been laid, no doubt, the foundation of many
permanent languages and dialects; and thus we may
easily perceive the powerful and continued effect of one
language upon another.

As to the number of languages in America much dif-
ference of opinion exists, Hervds, before half the
country was discovered, felt justified in classifying them
all under seven families, while others find, on the Pacific
side of the northern continent alone, over six hundred
languages which thus far refuse to affiliate. The differ-
ent dialects are countless; and yet, notwithstanding the
formidable array of names which I have gathered at the
end of this chapter, probably not one-fourth of their real
number are or ever will be known to us.

Many of the Pacific States’ languages bear resem-
blances to one another, and may therefore be brought
more or less under groups and classes. These languages,
however, resemble one another too slightly to be called
dialects, and in the majority of cases no affiliations of
any kind can be traced. But four great languages are
found within our territory, or, if we exclude the Eskimo,
which is not properly an American language, there re-
main but three, the Tinneh, the Aztec, and the Maya.
Of the lesser tongues there are many more, as will ap-
pear further on, The Eskimos skirt the shores of the
north polar ocean and belong more to the old world than
tothe new. The Tinneh, Athabasca, or Chepewyan family
covers the northern end of the Rocky Mountain range,
sending its branches in every direction, into Alaska,
British Columbia, British America, Washington, Oregon,
California, New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. The Aztec
language, whose seat is Central Mexico, is found also in
Nicaragua and other parts of Central America, Traces
moreover appear in some parts of Sonora, Sinaloa,
Durango, Chihuahua, Texas, Arizona, California, Utah,

558 GENERAL REMARKS.

Nevada, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. The Maya is the
chief Central American tongue, but traces of it may be
found as well in Mexico. Thus we see that while the
cradle of the Tinneh tongue appears to be in the centre of
British North America, its dialects extend westward and
southward, lessening in intensity the further they are re-
moved from the hypothetical original centre, suddenly
dying out in some directions, fading gradually away in
others, and breaking out at disconnected intervals in
others. So with the Aztec language, whose primitive
centre, so far as present appearances go, was the valley of
Mexico; we find it extending south along the shores of
the Pacific as far as Nicaragua, while northward its traces
grow fainter and fainter until it disappears. And so it
is with the Maya, which, covering as it does a less extent
of territory, is more distinctly marked and consequently
more easily followed.

In classifying the languages of the Pacific States,
the marks of identification vary with different families.
Thus the linguistic affiliations of the Tinneh family are
founded not so much on certain recurring grammatical
rules, as on the number of important words occurring
under the same or slightly altered form. In the Aztec
language the reverse of this is true; for although to some
extent, in the establishing of relationships, we are
governed by verbal similarities, yet. we also find positive
grammatical rules which carry with them much more
weight than mere word likenesses,

For example, in the north, wherever Aztec traces are
found, the Aztec substantive endings i] and ¢h are either
abreviated or changed according toa regular sytem into
ti, te, t, de, re, ki, ke, ca, la, ri. Aztec numerals are used
by these northern naiions, but in greatly modified forms;
personal pronouns are there found but little changed,
while demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite pro-
nouns likewise show signs of Aztec origin. The ending
ame, which, attached to the verb, designates the person
acting, can be plainly traced; while among these same
northern nations of which I am speaking, is found that

is the
nay be
ile the
ntre of
rd and
are re-
idenly
way in
vals in
mitive
ley of
ores of
| traces
d so it
extent
juently

States,
smilies,
ily are
natical
urring
» Aztec
D some
ve are
ositive

more

ps are
either
into
e used
forms ;
anged,
2 pro-
ending
person
same
d that

INLAND AND COAST LANGUAGES. 559

certain system of Lautverschiebung or sound-shunting,
originally discovered by Grimm in the Indo-Germanic
family, and by Professor Max Miiller called Grimm’s
law.

In the pursuance of this investigation I noticed a
two-fold curiosity which may be worthy of mention.
Throughout the great Northwest, as well in most of the
many ‘Tinneh vocabularies as elsewhere, is found the
Aztec word for stone, ¢e/, sometimes slightly changed
but always recognizable, and to which the same meaning
is invariably attached; while on the other hand the
Tinneh word for fire, cun, or coon, appears in like manner
in several of the Mexican languages, and I even noticed
it in the vocabulary of a Honduras nation. This
may be purely accidental, but both being important
words I thought best to draw attention to the fact.

The larger linguistic families are for the most part
found inland, while along the sea-shore the speech of the
people is broken into innumerable fragments. Particu-
larly is this the case along the shores of the Northwest.
South of Acapulco, as we have seen, the Aztec tongue
holds the seaboard for some distance; but again farther
south, as well as on the gulf coast, there is found a
great diversity in languages and dialects. Jn California
the confusion becomes interminable; as if Babel-builders
from every quarter of the earth had here met to the
eternal confounding of all; yet there are linguistic
families even in California, principally in the northern
part. It is not at all improbable that Malays, Chinese,
or Japanese, or all of them, did at some time appear in
what is now North America, in such numbers as materially
toinfluence language, but hitherto no Asiatic nor European
tongue, excepting always the Eskimo, has been found
in America; nor have affinities with any other language
of the world been discovered sufficiently marked to
warrant the claim of relationship. Theorizers enough
there have been and will be; for centuries to come half-
fledged scientists, ignorant of what others have done or
rather have failed to do, will not cease to bring forward

560 GENERAL REMARES.

wonderful conceptions, striking analogies; will not cease
to speculate, linguistically, ethnologically, cosmograph-
ically and otherwise to their own satisfaction and to the
confusion of their readers. The absurdity of these spec-
ulations is apparent to all but the speculator. No
sooner is a monosyllabic language, the Otomi, discovered
in America than up rises a champion, Sejior Najera,
claiming the distinction for the Chinese, and with no
other result than to establish both as monosyllabic, which
was well enough known before. So the Abbé Brasseur
de Bourbourg, who has given the subject more years of
study and more pages of printed matter than any other
writer, unless it be the half-crazed Lord Kingsborough,
first attempts to prove that the Maya languages are de-
rived from the Latin, Greek, English, German, Scandi-
navian, or other Aryan tongues; then that all these
languages are but offshoots from the Maya itself, which
is the only true primeval language. So much for in-
temperate speculation, which, whether learned or shallow,
too often originates in doubt and ends in obscurity. In
all these hypotheses, argument assumes the form of
analogies drawn between the peoples with whom a re-
lationship is attempted to be established,—no difficult
matter, truly, when we consider that all mankind are
formed on one model, and that innumerable similarities
must of necessity exist among all the races of the globe.

To show the futility of such attempts, let me give a
few words, analogous both in signification and sound,
selected from American, European, Asiatic, and other
languages, between which it is now well established that
no relationship exists, For the German ja » : have the
Shasta ya; for komm, the Comanche kim; for Kopf, the
Cahita coba; for weinen, the Cora vyeine; for thun, the
Tepehuana duni; for nichis, nein, the Chinook niat, nia.
For the Greek xopaé, there is the Tarahumara colatschi;
for uaSorv, uaSetv, the Cora muaté; for yvr7, the Cahita
cuna, For the Latin /ic, vas, we have the Tepehuana
hic, vase; for mucor, the Cora mucuare; for lingua, the
Moqui finga; for vallis, the Kalapooya walléh; for toga,

ot cease
ograph-
1 to the
ge spec-
r. No
covered
Najera,
vith no
, which
prasseur
years of
y other
orough,
are de-
Scandi-
ll these
_ which
for in-
hallow,
ty. In
form of
m & re-
difficult
nd are
larities
p globe.
give a
sound,
l other
ed that
ave the
yy, the
m, the
at, nia.
fl schi;
Cahita
phuana
Nh, the

toga,

ACCIDENTAL WORD-SIMILARITIES, 561
manus, the Kenai togaai, man. For the French cagser, we
find the Tarahumara cassn‘aler; for tdtonner. the Tepe-
huana tatame. For the Spanish hueco, the Tarahumara
hoco; for tuétano, the Cora tétana. For the Italian cosi,
the Tarahumara cossi; for the Arabic dchar,the Tarahu-
mara ajaré; for the Hawaiian po, the Sekumne po (night),

For the Sanscrit da, there is the Cora ta (give) ; for eké,
the Miztec ec (one) ; for md, the Tepehuana mai (not) and
the Maya ma (no); for masd (month), the Pima mahsa
(moon) ; for tschandra (moon), the Kenai tschane (moon) ;
for pada (foot), the Sekumne podo (leg); for kamd
(love), the Shoshone kamakh (to love); for pd, the Kizh

paa (to drink). For the Malay ¢dfa, we have the
‘aallmans tani (to ask); for hurip, tabah, the Cora huri
(to live), tabd (to beat) ; for hémah, the Shasta dma
(house), and so on.

These examples I could increase. indefinitely and show
striking similarities in some few words between almost
any two languages of tic world. When there are enough
of them similar in sound and signification in any two
tongues to constitute a rule rather than exceptions, such
languages are said to be related; but where, as in the
above-cited instances, these similarities are .merely ac-.
cidental, to prove them related would prove too much,:
for then all the languages of the earth might be said to
be related.

In treating of the languages of the Pacific States, :
commencing with those of the north and proceeding south-
ward, I make it a rule to follow them wherever they
lead, without restricting myself to place or nation. One
nation may speak two languages; the same language
may be spoken by a dozen nations, and if the evidence
is such as to imply the: existence of the same language,
or traces of it, in Alaska and in Sonora, I can do no
less than step from one place to the other in speaking of
it. Besides the names and localities of languages and
linguistic families, I shall endeavor to give some idea of
their several peculiar characteristics, their grammatical

construction, with such specimens of each as will enable
Vou, III, 36

562 CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES.

the student to make comparisons and draw inferences.
In the following tabk: I-have attempted a classification
of these languages; but in some instances, from the lack
of vocabularies taken before the intermixtures that
followed the advent of Europeans, any classification can
be but approximative.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE ABORIGINAL LANGUAGES OF
THE PACIFIC STATES.

[ifr
Kittear
Northern ! Kangmali-Innuin
Eskimo | Nuwangmeun
Nunatangmeun
Kitegue

Malemute
Anlygmute
Chnagmute
Pashtolik

Kangjulit .

Magemute
Agulmute
Kejataigmute
Aglegmute
Chugatsch
Kadiak

f

Kuskoquigmute.
Kwichpagmute.

Unalaska
Atkha

{ Yakutat
Chilknt
Hoodsinoo
Ta

i u
Thlinkeet............... Kaka

Sitka
Eeliknoo
Stikeen

{ Tungiss

{ Sawessaw-tinneh or Chepewyan
Tantsawhoot-tinneh or Coppermine River
Horn Mountain
Beaver
Ace bags se or Dog-Rib
Fastern Kawcho-tinneh or Hare
Division 1 Ambawtawhoot-tinneh or Sheep
Tinneh Sarsis or Sursees
Tsillawdawhoot-tinneh or Brush-wood
Nagailer
Slouacuss-tinneh
Rocky Mountain
Edchawtawoot-tinneh

inferences,
sification
n the lack
tures that
cation can

GES OF

gmute,
mute,

yan
rmine River

eep

ush-wood

‘CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES.

Degothi-kutchin or Loucheux
[ Vanta-kutchin i

Kutchin

Artez-kutchir,
Kutcha-kutchin
i Tenan-kutchin

Division

{ Tautin or Talkotin
Tsilkotin or Chilkotin
Naskotin

Natliautin

PD Nikozliautin
k pataniautin i
| abine i
& Tinneh Bree Sicanni
i)
B Tlatskanai
oI Qualhioqua
Umpqua

{ Lassics
pia
aynaggi
Hoopah | Hayang
| Tahahteen
{ Siah

| fier

| Mimbreiio

Southern
Division

Piiialeno
Coyotero
Tejua

L
Apaches ‘e
Coppermine

EA

CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES.

NOGA VEN ve ssicnbias cea

Haidah
Kaiganie

Nass
Sebnssa
Hailtza

Nootka
Quackoll
Cowichin
Tlaoquatch

Clayoquot
Piobsens
Soke
Nimkish :
Wickinninish
Songhie
Sanetch
Comux
Noosdalum
Kwantlum
Teet
Nanaimo
Taculta
Ucleta
Neculta
ecenewianise
ewittee
Sankaulutuck
Makah
Newchemass
Shimiahmoo
Nooksak
Samish
Skagit
Snohomish
Chimakum
Clallam ‘
Toanhooch

ane
S

nish

OLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES,

Salish Proper or Flathead
Lumm

Clallam

Kullespelm or Pend d’Oreilles
Shushwap

COOP Oe Ce eeeereees-cos

ercee

{eat proper
Wee sieesprenerebesene ss Thentecta

Sahaptin proper or Nez Percé
{ aine rabeoP*

Palouse
PSHE Yakima

Kliketat

Tairtla

Cayuse
Mellale

Chinook
bidet spect
2athlamet
Chinook...... Clatsop
Multnomah
Skilloot
( Watlala
Yamkally
Calapooya
Chinook Jargon

Tototin
Yakon

Lutuami or Klamath
Klamath....., {Med

Copah

Palaik
Watsahewah

rt

CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES.

Yuka... .....06 Tahtoo
Wapo or Ashochemie

Chocuyem
Olamentke
Kainamare

Chwachamaju

Yoloy or Yolo
Nemshous

Sacramento

es | Dialects

Newichumne
Matchemne

Sagayayumne

CaLiFrorniaxs

SHosHones

_——

CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES.

| Fas Muthelemne
| 2p peba | Sopolatemne
| { Puslomne
asumne
Valley aoa
umne
Languages | western Kisky
Dialects Valsinians :
Huk
Ynkal
Tsamak
[ Nemshaw
Napobatin
{ Napa
| ii betagi
ayomane
NODAS csicsaacceere Caymus
Uluca
Suscol
Mustitul
Tulkay
Suisun
Karquines
Tomales
Lekatuit
Petaluma
Guiluco
Tulare
Hawhaw
Coconoon
Yocnt
Matalan
Salse
Quirote
Olhone
Runsien
Eslene
Ismuracan
Asplanaque
hone
Chalone
Kutlendaruca
Poytoqui
Mutsun
Thamien
Chowchilla
Meewoc
Tatché
San Mignel
Santa Cruz
Shoshone
Shoshone.,.....,.,, blot al
Shoshokee

m7

CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES.

Sampitche
Mono

Comanche

Mogqui

Kizh

Netela
Kechi
Chemehuevi

Cahuillo

Kiwomi
Queres. ............ Cochitemi
Acoma

Tegua or Tezuqne

Picoris
Jemez
Zuiii

Yuma
Maricopa
Cuchan
Mojave
Diegeiio
Yampais
Yavipais
Chevet

Cajuenche
te 1 Falliquatat

Cajuenche.......
Tamajab

B é Tecuicho
ssi Teniqueche

Covaji

Noche

Cochimf

‘CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES.

4pago

P;
Pima Alto .... 18: ipuris

Prwa

Pima Bajo

Eudeve
Teguis
Teguima i
Coguinachie
Opata ........ Batuca
| Sahuaripa

Himeri
Guazaba
| Jova

| Mayo |

Yaqui
Tehueco

see cee

Ore
Mucoyabui

auro

NorTHERN Mexicans

Varogio
Tarahumara..., Guazapare
Pachera

Tepehuana

OLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES.

Mazapile
Huitcole
Guachichile
Colotian
Tlaxomultec
Tecuexe

Tepecano

Muutzicat
Cora ......... 4 Teakualitzigti
Cora, or Ateakari

Aztec, Mexican, or Nahuatl

Otomf
Otomf......... Mazahua

Pame
Meco, or Serrano
Yué

u
Yemé
Olive
Xanambre
Pisone
Tamaulipec

Tarasco
Matlaltzinca
Ocuiltec

Tepuzculano
Yangiistlan
Miztec baja
Miztec alta
Cuixlahuac
Tlaxiaco
Cuilapa
Mictlantongo
Tamazulapa
Xaltepec
Noc

Chocho, or Chuchone
Amusgo

Mazatec

Cuicatec

Chatino

Tlapanec

Chinantec

Popoluca

Maya-Quicusé

Sourueaw Mexicays

CLASSIFICATION: OF LANGUAGES.

Serrano de Cajonos

eni Xono
Serrano de Miahuatlan

| Serrano de Itztepeo

Tetikilhati
Chakalmati
ry

ana
te molo, or Naolingo

Zeldal-quelen
Vebetlateca
Mam

Achie
Guatemalteo
Cuettac
Hhirichota
Pokonchi
Tpechicolchi

Chol
Uzpanteo
Aguacatec
Quechi
Maya

Carib
Mosquito
Poya
Towka
Se

co
Valiente
Rama
Cookra
Woolwa
Toonglas

CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES.

Lenca
fee
‘eguca
Albatuina
Jara
Toa
Gaula
Motuca
Fansasma
Sambo

Coribici
Chorotega
Chontal
Orotiiia

Blanco
Tiribi
Talamanca

Chiripo
Guatuso

Nicoya
Cere

Chuchura
Chagre

Che

Cue
Quarecua
Chiape
Ponca

Abenamechey
Dabaibn
Bird

Tule
Cholo
Doracho
Cimarron
Bayano
Cimarron

CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES,

Manzanillo, or San Blas

Mandingo
Cuna
Cunacuna
Choco
Caomane
U

ra
Tdiba
Paya
Goajiro
Motilone
Guaineta
Cocina

CHAPTER II.

HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES,

DISTINCTION BETWEEN Esxrmo AND AMERICAN—EsSKIMO PRONUNCIATION AND
Deciensron—Dratects oF THE KonraGAs AND ALEUTS—LANGUAGE OF
THE THLINKEETS—HyPporHeETicaL AFFINITIES—THE TINNEH FAMILY AND
1rs Drauects—EastkeN, WESTERN, CENTRAL, AND SOUTHERN Divistons—
Cuepewyan DEcLENSION—ORaATORICAL DISPLAY IN THE SPEECH OF THE
Kortcatns-- Dracects oF THE ATNAHS AND UGALENZES CoMPARED—SPE-
CIMEN OF THE KoLTsHANE ToNnGur—TacuLty Gutrorats—Hoopan
VocaBuLany—APAcrkE DraLEcTs—L1pan Lorp’s Prayern—Navaso Worps
~—CoMPARATIVE VOCABULARY OF THE TINNEH F amity.

The national and tribal distinctions given in the first
volume of this work will; for the most part, serve as
divisions for languages and dialects; I shall not therefore
repeat here the names and boundaries before mentioned,
except so far as may be necessary in speaking of lan-
guages alone. As a rule those physical and social dis-
tinctions which indicate severalness among peoples, are
followed, if indeed they are not governed by the. several-
ness of dialects, that is, the diversities of language operate
as powerfully as the aspects of nature or any other causes,
in separating mankind into tribes and nations; hence it
is that in the different divisions 0 humanity are found
different dialects, and between «' ‘lects physical and

graphical divisions."

As I have said in another pla the Eskimos are
the anomalous race of the New Wo. .d; and this is no

1 See vol. i., p. 42 et seq. of this work.
(574)

[ION AND
WAGE OF
sILY AND
VISIONS—
H OF THE
ED—SPE-
—Hoopan
o Worps

e first
ve as
refore
ioned,
f lan-
nl dis-
pS, are
veral-
perate
RUSS,
nce it
ound

and

iS are
is no

LANGUAGES ON THE ARCTIC SEABOARD. 575

less true in their language than in their physical charac-
teristics, Obviously they are a polar people rather than
an American or an Asiatic people.’ ‘They cling to the
seaboard; and while the distinction between them and
the inland American is clearly drawn, as we descend the
strait and sea of Bering, cross the Alaskan peninsula
and follow the shores of the Pacific eastward and south-
ward, gradually the Arctic dialect merges into that of
the American proper. In our Hyperborean group, whose
southern bound is the fifty-fifth parallel, the northern
seaboard part is occupied wholly by Eskimos, the southern
by a people called by some Eskimos and by others Koni-
agas, while further on the graduation is so complete and
the transition from one to the other so imperceptible that
it is often difficult to determine which are Indians and
which Eskimos. In treating of their manners and
customs, I separated the littoral Alaskans into two di-
visions, calling them Eskimos and Koniagas, but in their
languages and dialects I shall speak of them as one.
No philologist familiar with the whole territory has
attempted to classify these Hyperborean tongues; differ-
ent writers refer the languages of all to such particalar
parts as they happen to be familiar with. ‘Thus the
Russian priest Veniaminoff divides the Eskimo language
into six dialects, all beionging to the Koniagas, on the

\

2‘ Ces deux langues....sont absolument la méme que celle des Vogules,
habitants de la Tartarie, et la méme que celle des Lupons.’ Monglave, in
Antiq. Mex., tom. i.,div.i., p.65. ‘Les Esquimaux d’Amérique et les Tchoutchis
de l’extrémité nord de 1’Asie orientale....il est aisé de reconnaitre qu’ils
appartiennent 4 une méme famille.’ Mofras, Exeplor., tom. ii., p. 33). ‘The
whole arctic shore of North America is posscssed by the Esquimaux and Green-
landers, who speak an original tongue called Karwlit.’ McCulloch's Researnes
in Amer., p 36. ‘'Ihe Arctic region is mainly covered by dialects of a single
language—the Eskimo.’ Latham’s Comp. Phil.,vol. viii., p. 384. ‘Der Ameri-
kanische Sprachtypus, die Eskimo-Sprache, reicht hiniiber nach Asien.’
Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek Spr., p. 711. ‘Alle Eskimos sprechen im
Wesentlichen diese'be Sprache.’ Baer, Stct. u. Ethno., p. 280. ‘The language
of the Western Esquimanx so nenrly resembles that of the tribes to the
eastward.’ Beechey’s Voyage, vol., ii., p. 511, Sauer’s Billings’ Ex., p, 245.
Kotzebue’s Voyage, vol. iii., p. 814; Franklin's Nar., vol. i., p. 30; Dease and
Simpson, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. viii., p. 222, Seemann's Voy. Herald,
vol. ii., p. 63. But Vater does not believe that the language extends across
to Asia. ‘Dass sich wohl ein Einfluss der Eskimo-Sprache, aber nicht
diese selbst iibor die zwischen Asien and Amerika liegenden Inseln erstreckt.’
Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., pp. 458, 426,

576 HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

Kadiak Islands and the adjacent territory. The fact
is Veniaminoff dwelt in southern Alaska and in the
Aleutian Isles, and knew nothing of the great inland
nations to the north and west. To the people of Kadiak
he gives two dialects, a northern and a southern, and
carries the same language over to the main land adjacent.®
The Russian explorer Sagoskin, to the Chnagmute
dialect of Veniaminoff, unites the Kwichpagmute and
Kuskoquigmute under the collective name of Kangjulit,
of which with the Kadiak he makes a comparative vocabu-
lary establishing their identity. In like manner Baer
classifies these northern languages, but confines himself
almost exclusively to the coast above Kadiak Island.*

Kotzebue says that a dialect of this same language is
spoken by the natives of St Lawrence Island.’ Yet if
we may believe Mr Seemann, all these dialects are essen-
tially different. The Eskimo language, he writes, ‘‘is
divided into many dialects, which often vary so much
that those who speak one are unable to understand the
others. The natives of Kotzebue Sound for instance
have to use an interpreter in conversing with their
countrymen in Norton Sound; towards Point Barrow
another dialect prevails, which however is not sufficiently
distinct to be unintelligible to the Kotzebue people.’’’

According to Vater and Richardson the Nskimo
. language as spoken east of the Mackenzie River appears
to have a softer sound, as for instance, for the western
ending ¢ch the eastern tribes mostly use s and some-
times h. The German sound cA, guttural, is frequently
heard among the western people. Nouns have six cases,
the changes of which are expressed by affixed syllables,

3 Veniaminoff, Uber dis Sprachen des russ. Amer., in Erman, Archiv., tom.
vii., No, 1, p. 126 et seq.
4 Sajoskin, Tagcbuch, in Russ, Geog. Gesell., Denkschr., tom. i., p. 359

et seq.

5 Kite diese Vilkerschaften reden eine Sprache and gehéren zu cinem und
demselben Stamme, der sich auch weiter nérdlich lings der Kiiste....
ausdehnt.’ Baer, Stat. u. Ethno., p. 122,

© Kolsebue's Voyage, vol. ii., p. 175,

7Of the similarity between the Kadiak ond Alaska idiom Langsdorft
says: ‘In a great degree the clothing and language of the Alaksans, aro tho
same ns those of the people of Kodiak.’ Voy. vol. ii., p. 236, Seemann’s
Voy, Herald, vol. ii., pp. 68-C9,

‘he fact
in the
inland
Kadiak
rm, and
jjacent.?
1agmute
ute and
ng julit,
vocabu-
er Baer
himself
Island.°
guage is

Yet if
re essen-
‘ites, ‘‘is
30 much
tand the
instance
th their
Barrow
ficiently
eople.’’"
Eskimo
appears
western
ad some-
quently
x cases,
yllables.
chiv., tom.
i, p. 350
einem und

iiste....

angsdorft
ns, aro tho
Seemann's

EXAMPLES OF THE ESKIMO GRAMMAR. 5TT

These are in the singular mut, mik, mit, me, and kut, and,
in the plural nut, nik, nit, ne,and gut. Ga, go, ne, ait,
anga, ara, etc., affixed to the nominative, denote a pos-
sessive case. As:—~kivgah, a servant; kivganga, my
rervant; kivgane, his servant; etc. -Arsw and arsuit are
diminutive endings and soak, sudset, and sudsek augment-
atives. Adjectives are also declinable. Nouns can be
transposed into verbs by affixing evok and ovok, and the
adjective is altered in the same manner.

The third person singular of the indicative is taken’
as the root of the verb, and by changing its termination
it may be used as a noun. The infinitive is formed by’
the postposition nek. The verb has numerous inflections,

‘To be’ or ‘ to have,’ both possessing a similar signifi-
cation, are expressed by gi or vi—as nunagiva, it is his:
land.

Richardson gives the following declension of a noun,
transitively and intransitively (?):

TUPEK, A TENT. .

¥* srnaghas DUAL PLURAL
ves . ints t tuppak turket

Gen, turkib tuppak turket

Dat. tr. tuppek tuppak turket
intr, tuppermut tuppangnut tuppernut

Aco, tr. tuppak tuppak turkinut
intr. tuppernik tuppangnit turkit

Abl. tr. tuppermit tuppangnit tuppermit
intr, tuppermut tuppangnut turkinnut &

Some claim that the languages of Kadiak and the
Aleutian Islands are cognate, others deny any relation-.
ship. Stephen Glottoff, one of the first to visit Kadiak.
Island, states positively that the inhabitants of Unalaska
and particularly a boy from the western Aleutian Isles.
could not understand the people of Kadiak.? Captain:
Cook thought there existed a phonetic similarity between.

8 Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., p. 364 et seq ; Veniaminoff, in Erman, Archtv,
tom. iii., No. i., pp. 142-43; Beechey's Voyage, vol, ii., p. 366 ; Vater, Mithridates,
tom. iii., pt i . 458 et seq; notes on the Chugatsh dialect at Prince,

ii. }
wien A saa ie Cook's Voy. 4 Pae.,, vol. ii., pp. 374-6, and Portlock's Voy...
pp. ‘
®"fr konnte die Sprache dieser Insulaner nicht....verstehen,’ Neue,
Nochrtonter, a ; silat
‘OL, » 8

578 HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

the speech of the Unalaskas and the people of Norton
Sound, which opinion appears to be correct. So
disarranged have the aboriginal tongues in this vicinity
become since the advent of the Russians that little de-
pendence can be placed on latter-day investigations.
Dall admits the speech of the two peoples to be dissimilar
yet their language he believes to be one." Vater, more
cautious, thinks that there is perhaps some Hskimo in-
fluence noticeable among the Koniagas.” Baer gives
Admiral von Wrangell’s opinion, which also inclines
towards such a connection, but he himself cxpresses the
opposite belief, citing in support of this that the physical
appearance of the Koniagas differs entirely from that of
the Eskimo race. Buschmann gives, as the result of
careful investigations and comparisons, the opinion that
the language of Unalaska is distinct from that of Kadiak,
and supports it by the statements of travelers, as
for instance that of the mate Saikoff, given in the Neue
Nordische Beitriige, tom. iii., p. 284, who says that the
two are totally different.

Throughout the whole Aleutian Archipelago there are
but two dialects, one of which is spoken on the peninsula,
on Unalaska, and a few islands contiguous, while the
other—by Veniaminoff called the Atkha dialect—ex-
tends thence over all the other Aleutian Isles, In neither
dialect is there any distinction of gender; but to make
up for this deficiency, besides the plural, a dual is
used. Substantives have three cases:—adakch, the father ;
adam or adaganilyak, of the father; adaman, to the father ;
adakik or adakin, both fathers; adan, the fathers; adanik,
to the fathers. Verbs are conjugated by means of ter-
minals, ‘They are divided into three classes, active,
medium, and passive. Negation is expressed by the sylla-
ble djjuk added to the root of the verb; sometimes also by

10 Vook's Voy. to Pac,, vol. ii., p, 522.

it Dali's Alaska, PP 377-8.

‘ 18*Dass sich wohl ein Einfluss der Eskimo-Sprache aber nicht diese

selbst tiber die zwis shen Asien nnd Amerika liegenden Inseln erstreckt.’ Vater,
Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., 458,

13 * Der Bawohner von Unaluschka kann den von Kadjack gar nicht ver-
atehen.’ Buer, Stat. u. Kthno., pp. 123-288-9.

Vorton’
° §$o
icinity
tle de-
ations.
similar
, ore
mo in-

gives
nclines
ses the
hysical
that of
sult of
on that
cadiak,
ers, as
e Neue
at the

ere are
hinsula,
ile the
t—ex-
meither
make
ual is
father;
father;
danik,
of ter-
active,
sylla-
also by

cht diese
kt.’ Vater,

hicht ver-

ATKHA AND UNALASKA DIALECTS. 579

Jaka, Yaga, or gana. Sjubing, I take; sjunakching, I took;
sjuljakakching, 1 take not; sjunag’dljuting, I took not;
sjuda, take; sjujjagada, or sjuganachtchin, take not.

The eastern Aleuts enunciate very rapidly, without
dividing their words distinctly, making it very difficult
for a stranger to understand them. In Unalaska their
speech is more drawling, while on Atkha Island the
natives pronounce each word very distinctly. The
westez:n Aleuts and the people on Umnak also speak
rather slowly—drawling.* Dall states that the chief
difference between the Atkha and Unalaska dialects
consists in the formation of the plural of nouns. The
former for this purpose employ the terminal letters s,
sh, or ng. For diminutives the Atkhas use the ending
kutshak and the Unalaskas dak.

On the next page I insert a vocabulary of Eskimo,
Kuskoquigmute, Malemute, Aleut, and Kadiak tongues.

Turn now to the Thlinkeets, who extend along the
coast southward from Mount St Elias, as Holmberg says,
to the Columbia River;* Chlebnikoff, to the forty-first
parallel; Vater, to Queen Charlotte Island ;” and Venia-
minoff, to the Stikeen River; the latter affirming, at the
same time, that there is but one dialect spoken among
them all.“ The nations mentioned by Captain Bryant as
speaking this language are the Chilkats, Sitkas, Hood-
sinoos, Auks, Kakns, Elikinoos, Stikeens, and Tungass.’®

From all accounts the Thlinkeets possess the most

4 ‘Dagss....sich das alentische Idiom... .ols ein eigner, von dem grossen
eskimoischen ganz verschiedener Giranatypas erweist.’ Buschmann, Spuren
der Aztek. Spr., p.702 et seq, Veniaminoff's examples are as follows: active,
he took; medium, he took me; passive, he was born, In Hrman, Archiv., tom,
iii, No. 1, pp. 136-8: Ventaminoff, Sapiski ob Ostrovach Oonalaskinskacho
Otjela, tom. 1i., pp. 264-71.

15 Dall's Alaska, p. 386; Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., pe. 459-460,

16* Von St Eliasberge bis hinunter zum Columbia-strome.’ Holmberg,
Ethno, Skiz., p. 9.

17 ‘Sie erstrecken sich von Inkutat siidlich bis zu den Charlotten-Inseln.’
Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., p. 219.

18*Von Ltu bis Stachin, und hat fast nur einen Dialect.’ Veniaminoff,
in Erman, Archiv., tom. vii., No. i., p. 128.

19 Bryant's Jour,, in Amer. Anlig. Soc., Transact., vol. ii., p. 302.

he Tungass language ‘as Mr. Tolmie conjectured, is nearly the same as
that spoken at Sitga.’ Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p. 218,

580 HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

COMPARATIVE VOCABULARY.

Peer emer maestro reer eesreseleereseeeeresissereseseser

eee ee ee ee ed ee ee ey

Ce ee
ee ee)

ewe reeseserti sceeeeeescceieeereseseeselesssereseses

avnakhukktajkiyukmuk
chivichuk |chowik

akhtah shukeenyuk

Knifo sequetat
baittsaach

akathak

keen

wunga
Ipit illewit ingaan

Eat | iahealcoweet neega nugerunger |kaangen pittooaga
Yes a you wah aang aang
naga, nau,
No at, nao, |chashituk j|peechuk maselikan |pedok
aunga
One }¢ aiteuke atauchik = jatowsik attakon alcheluk
milleit-
Two sungnet malkhok malruk malogh
pingettsat-
Three ) sungnet or |painaivak [pinyusut pingaien
pingeyook
Four } tsetummat o
setumet t’chamik setemat stamen
tadglémat
Five gravee or |talimik telemat taliman
eema
arkbunna
Six hwinnak
a mere akhvinok |aghwinulect [attoon agovinligin
elge
aitpa
gevendinaaun (easy hinditagh
ven 4 ipaghn oinadkhva- jmahlu -
ane i nam vacua malchongun
or bolru
penayua
Eight | Bennkgoo pinaiviak eekotationt kamtshing _|inglulgin
egesse

Nine pode ce ow koolinotyluk |sitching

tadleema or
Ten jkélit ——[kultnuk —_|kooleet

lalchtoch — 9

Ce

HARSHNESS OF THE THLINKEET TONGUE. 581

barbarous speech found anywhere in the Pacific States.
Whether this arises from the huge block of wood with
which the Thlinkeet matrons grace their under lip,
which drives the sound from the throat through the
teeth and nose before it reaches the ear of the listener, I
do not pretend to say; but that it is hard, guttural,
clucking, hissing, in short everything but labial, there is
no doubt. All who have visited them, whether German,
English, French, or Spanish, agree in this particular.
“Marchand describes it as excessively rude and wild.
Most of their articulations are accompanied by a
strong nasal aspiration, with strenuous efforts of the
throat; particularly in producing the sound of a double
‘, which is heavy and hard. Many of their words com-
mence with astrongly guttural & sound and this same
sound is frequently heard three times in one word. Dr
Roblet who accompanied Marchand, says that, notwith-
standing all this, the language is very complete, possess-
ing a multitude of words, the natives being at no loss to
give a name to everything.” La Pérouse, who makes a
similar report, gives as an example of its harshness the
word khirieies, hair.” In Veniaminoff’s vocabulary are
found such words as thiklunik, healthy, and katlhth, ashes,
literally unpronounceable. The frequently occurring
sound ¢/ has led several authors to suppose a relationship
with the Aztec tongue; as for example Vater, who made
a small comparative table which I insert to show directly
the contrary to what he wished to prove.

Setting aside the ¢edl, te, stone, of which I have made
previous mention, had the words been selected to prove
a want of affinity between the two languages they could
not have been more to the point. Buschmann asserts,
moreover, that several of the Mexican words are mis-

# Taken from Beechey’s Voyage, vol. ii.; Baer, Stat. u. Ethno.; Dall's Alaska;
and Sauer's Billings’ Ex.

%| Marchand, Voyage, tom. ii., pp. 109-110.

% La Pérouse, Voy., tom. fi., p. 238. ‘Their language is harsh and un-
pleasant to the ear.’ Portlock's Voy.,p. 203. ‘It eppease barbarous, uncouth,

and difficult to pronounce,’ Dixon's Voy., p. 172, ‘La dificil pronunciacion
de sus vozes....pues las forman de la garganta con un movimiento de la
lengua contra el paladar.’ Bodega y ra, Nav., M8., pp. 46-47,

HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

THLINKEET.

attli
sonal or achonoik

vecatlyotl

tetl

tlalli fijaknak or tlatka
canauhtli kauchu

citlati

quoted.“ A few instances have been discovered by the
same writer, where the Thlinkeet tongue appears to be
verging towards the Tinneh. Among others he mentions
the Thlinkeet words ¢e, stone, zyyn, muskrat, comparing the
latter with the Dogrib tz; the Thlinkeet achschat,
woman, wife, with the Umpqua sch‘at; the Thlinkeet ¢é,
teik, road, with the Tacully tee.* La Pérouse pretends
that they do not use and can hardly pronounce the
letters 6, f, j, d, p, and v. Most words commence with
k, t, n,8, or m, the first named being the most frequently
used; no word commences with an r.% Veniaminoff
again says that it would take thirty-eight letters or com-
binations to write the distinct sounds which are expressed
in the Thlinkeet language. The personal pronouns are
khat, or khatsh, 1; bae, be, or belch, thou; b or bch, he; ban
or bantch, we; iban or ibantch, you; as or astch or youtas
or youastch, they. The verb ‘to do’ is conjugated as
follows:

PRESENT INDICATIVE’ FIRST FUTURE SECOND FUTURE
etakhani ekbkazyani enkbzini

IMPERFECT PERFECT
etakhanegin ekhbzin{ or ekhbzinnigin *%

te. Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., pp. 212-18; Holmberg, Elhno. Skiz.,

Pp.

% ‘Von der ganzen Liste bleibt oe tag The, ‘Stein als ahnlich.’ Busch-
mann, Pima u. Koloschen Sprache, p. 386. ‘Zwischen ihnen und der mexi-
canischen in Wortern ir Grammatik keine Verwandtschaft existirt..
ginzlich vom Mex. ve:svhieden sind.’ Buschmann, Ortsnamen, p. 69. ‘Je
n lye trouvé aucune ressemblance entre les - de cette langue et celle des

. Mexicnins.’ La Pérouse, Voy., tom. ii.,

“Ss Buschmann, Pima u. Koloschen Sprache, Pp. 588.

% La Pérouse, Foy.» tom. ii., pp

% Veniaminoff, Sa iski ob Ostrovach Vonalashkinskacho Otjela, tom. iii., pp.
149-51. No transla: on is given.

oik

by the
3 i be
entions
ring the
chschat,
eet té,
retends
ice the
e with
quently
aminoft
or com-
pressed
ins are
e; ban
youtas
hted as

UTURE
ni

celle des

te iii., pp:

THLINKEET LORD'S PRAYER. 563

Vater has a Lord’s prayer communicated by Baranoff,
director of the late Russian possessions in America. It
reads as follows:

Ais waan, wet wwetu tikeu; ikukastii ee
Father our, who art inthe clouds; honored be

bae; faa atkwakut ikustigi ibee; atkwakut atvititucnti
thine; let come kingdom thine, be done

bee ikachtekin linkitani zu tlekw. Katuachawat

thine as we in heaven and oz earth, Food
udan zuikwiilkinichat akech udan itat; tamil udan
our needful give us to-day; absolve us

techeniistachak aagi zu udan akut tugati ajat; ilil

ours asalso we give debtors ours; not lead

uan mslkikagat tdat anachut une akalléelchwetach.
us intotemptation but deliver from the evil Spirit.

Ti.
80.8

Next come the Tinneh, a people whose diffusion is
only equaled by that of the Aryan or Semitic nations
of the old world. The dialects of the Tinneh language
are by no means confined within the limits of the Hy-
perborean division. Stretching from the northern in-
terior of Alaska down into Sonora and Chihuahua, we
have here a linguistic line of more than four thousand
miles in length extending diagonally over forty-two
degrees of latitude; like a great tree whose trunk is the
Rocky Mountain range, whose roots encompass the
deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, and whose branches
touch the borders of Hudson Bay” and of the Arctic

%8 Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., p. 225.
‘Dimensionen, in welchen er ein ungeheures Gebiet im Innern des
nérdlichen Continents einnimmt, nahe an das Eismeer reicht, und queer
das nordamerikanische Festland durchzieht: indem er im Osten die Hud-
sonsbai, im Siidwesten in abgestossenen Stimmen am Umpa' ua-Flusse ee
stille Meer berdhrt.’ Busehmann, Spuren der Aztek, Spr., p. 3 ‘This

family includes a pee number of North American tribes, extending, fro

near the mouth of the Mackenzie, south to the borders of Mexico.’ Dall's
Alaska, p. 428. ‘There are outlyers of the stock as far as the southern

584 -HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

and Pacific oceans.” In the north immense compact
areas are covered by these dialects; towards the south
the line holds its course steadily in one direction, while
at the same time on either side are isolated spots, broken
fragments as it were, of the Tinneh tongue, at wide dis-
tances in some cases from the central line. A refer-
ence to the classification given at the end of the preced-
ing chapter, will show the separation of the Tinneh
family into four divisions,—the eastern, western, central
and southern. The eastern division embraces the di-
alects spoken between Hudson Bay and the Mackenzie
River; the western, those of the Kutchins and Kenai of
interior Alaska and the Pacific Coast in the vicinity of
Mount St Elias and Copper River; the central, those of
the Tacullies of New Caledonia, the Umpquas of Oregon,
and the Hoopahs of California; the southern, those of
the Apaches of New Mexico, Arizona, and N orthern
Mexico.

Near the sources of a branch of the Saakatshievan
River are the Sursees, who have been frequently classed
with the Blackfeet, but Mackenzie had before this stated
that they speak a dialect of the Tinneh.” Umfreville
who visited these people, compares their language to the
cackling of hens, and says that it is very difficult for their
neighbors to learn it.”

Glance first at the dialects round Hudew Bay, and

parts of Oregon. More than this, there are Athabascans in California,
ew Mexico and Sonora.’ Latham’s Comp. Phil., vol. viii., p. 393.
‘Dass er in seinem Hauptgirtel von der nérdl chen Hudsonsbai aus fast die

nze Breite des Continents durchliuft; und dass er in abgesonderten, in

ie Ferne geschleuderten Gliedern, gen Siiden nicht allein unter dem
46ten (Tlatskanai und Kwalhioqua) und 43ten Grade nérdlicher Breite (Ump-
ua) das stille Meer beriihrt, sondern auch ticf im Inneen in den Navajos
den S6ten Grad trifft....wahrend er im Norden und Nordwesten den
65ten Grad und beinahe die Gestade des Polarmeers erreicht.’ Buschmann,
Athapask. Sprachstamm, p. 318. See also vol.i., pp. 114, 143-9.

30 Gibbs, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 303,

3) “The Sarsees who are But few in number, appear from their language,
tocome on the contrary from the North-Westward, and are of the same people
as the Rocky-Mountain 5 ge ...who are a tribe of the Chepewyans.’
‘Mackenzie's wate 8, pp. Ixxi.—]xxii.

$8 Vater, , tom. iii., pt iii., p. 252; Gallatin, in Amer. Antig. Soc.,
Transact., vol. ii., p. 19. The Sarai, Sussces 5 a dialect of the ou
pewyan (Athapaacan), allied to the Tahkali.’ Hale's Behnog. » in U.S

., vol, vi., p. 219.

m pact
| south
while
oroken
le dis-
refer-
yreced-
linneh
central
he di-
skenzie
enai of
nity of
ose of
)regon,
10se of
rthern

s+hewan

DIALECTS OF THE TINNEH FAMILY. 685

thence towards the west. The northern dialects are ex-
ceedingly difficult to pronounce, being composed largely
of gutturals. Richardson compares some of the sounds
to the Hottentot cluck, and Isbister calls them “harsh
and guttural, difficult of enunciation and unpleasant to
the ear.”” They differ mainly in accentuation and
pronunciation, and it therefore does not require that
philological research which is necessary with the farther
outlying branches of the family to establish their con-
nection. Richardson says that the Hare and Dog-rib
dialects differ scarcely at all even in their accents; and
again that the Sheep dialect is well understood by the
Hare Indians. Latham affirms that the “ Beaver Ind-
ian is transitional to the Slavé and Chepewyan proper.”
Of the Coppermine people, Franklin writes that their
language is “essentially the same with those of the
Chipewyans.” Ross Cox says that the language of the
Slowacuss and Nascud “bears a close affinity to that
spoken by the Chepewyans and Beaver Indians,’™

From a paper in the collection of M. Du Ponceau,
cited by Mr Gallatin, there appears to be in the grammar
of these northern dialects a dual as well as a plural.
Thus dinné, a person; dinnd you, aman; dinné you keh,
two men; dinné you thlang, many men. Again we have
sick keh, my foot; sick keh keh, my feet. The Chepewyan
declension is as follows:

My two hats, sit sackhallé keh; thy two hats, nit
sackhallé keh; his two hats, bit sackhaleé keh, or noneh bid
tsakhalle keh; their two hats, hoot sackhallé keh; two
pieces of wood, teitchin keh; much, or many pieces of
wood, éeitchin thlang; my son, see azé; my two sons, see
azé keh; thy two sons, nee azé keh; his two sons, bee
azé keh; their two sons, hoo bee azé keh; my children,

33 ‘They speak a copious language, which is very difficult to be attained.’
Mackenzie's Voyages, p. 114. ‘Asa language it is exceedingly meagre and
imperfect.’ Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., PP: 3, 28,
3 Richardson's Jour., vol. ii., PP. 3, 7; Franklin's Nar., vol. ii., Pp 76
‘ Hare Indians, who also speak a dialect of the Chipewyan language.’ Jd.,
, Rocky Mountain Indians differ but little from the Strongbow,
eaver, eto. Id., p.85. Latham's Comp. Phil., vol. viii., pp. 388, 391; IJd.,
vol, iii., p. 393; Cow's Adven., p. $23, id

686 HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

see azé keh thlang, or siskainé. Thus we see that the
dual ending is keh (which also means foot), and that of
the plural, thlang. Possessive pronouns are: first person,
si, sé or nee; second person, nit or nec; third person,
his or their, bit, bee, noot, or hoo.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB I SPEAK, YAWS’THEE.

PRESENT, IMPERFECT.
I speak, yaws’thee I spoke, yawaylt’hee
Thou speakest, yawnelt’hée Thou spakest, yayolt’hée
He speaks, yawlt’hée He spoke, yalthee
We speak, yawoult’hée We spoke, tayaolthee
You speak, tayoult’hée You spoke, tayahelthee
They speak, tayathee They spoke, tayolthee 9%

At the end of this chapter may be found a compara-
tive vocabulary, comprising words selected from these
and other dialects, belonging to this family.

Crossing over to the country drained by the Yukon,
we find the great Kutchin nation and to their north-east
the Kenai. The Kutchins, according to Jones, are
“divided into about twenty-two different tribes, each
speaking a dialect of the same language.” Hardisty
affirms that ‘‘the Loucheux proper is spoken by the
Indians of Peels River, thence traversing the mountains,
westward down Rat River, the Tuk-kuth, and Van-tah-
koo-chin, which extend to the Tran-jik-koo-chin, Na-
tsik-koo-chin, and Koo-cha-koo-chin of the Youcon.” *®
The connection of the Kutchin language with the Tinneh
has been, by early travelers, denied, and this denial re-
echoed by writers following them ;” but later philological
investigations have established the relationship beyond a

35 Gallatin, in Amer. Antig. Soc., Transact.,vol. ii., pp. 215-16, 269,

36 Richardson's Jour., pp. 377-413; Latham’s Native Races, pp. 293-4;
Jones, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 320; Hardisty, in Id., p. 311.

37 ‘ They speak a language distinct from the Chipewyan.’ Franklin's Nar.,
vol. ii., p. 83. ‘The similarity of language amongst all the tribes (Athabas-
cans) that have been enumerated under this head (the Loucheux excepted) is
fully established. It does not appear to have any distinct affinities with
any other than that of the Kinai.’ Gallatin, in Amer. Antig. Soc., Transact.,
vol. ii.,p.20. ‘The language of the latter (Loucheux) is entirely different
from that of the other known tribes who possess the vast region to the north-
ward of a line drawn from Churchill, on Hudson's Bay, across the Rocky
Mountains, to New Caledonia.’ Simpson's Nar., p. 157. ‘The Degothees
or Louchenx, called Quarrellers by the English, speak a different language.’
Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol, iii., p. 642,

THE KUTOHIN DIALECTS OF THE YUKON. 587

hat the
that of
person,
person,

hee
lthee
eo 35

ympara-
n these

Yukon,
rth-east
les, are

Tinneh
ial re-
plogical
yond &

B9.
pp. 293-4;

in’s Nar.,
Athabas-
epted) is
ties with
Transact.,
different
e north-
lhe Rocky
Degothees
nguage.’

question. Furthermore, to corroborate this fact there
are persons, well acquainted with these people and their
language, having lived in their country and traded with
them for years, who are positive that the Kutchin is a
dialect of the Tinneh. Some of them even affirm that
the eastern Kutchin dialect bears a closer relationship
to that of their neighbors, the Hares and Slavés, than do
some of the dialects of the western Kutchins to each
other, yet it is certain that all the Kutchin tribes of the
Yukon and its tributaries understand one another, ac-
centuation being the principal distinction between them.

A greater divergence from the stock language is
observable in the dialect of the Tutchone Kutchin, which,
with those of the Han Kutchin, the Slavé of Francis
Lake and Fort Halkett, the Sicannis, the Abbato-tinneh
of the Pelly and Macmillan Rivers, and the Nehanne
of forts Liard and Simpson, might almost be called a
dialectic division of the Tinneh language.”

Richardson, following Murray, cautiously traces these
relationships in the following words: ‘‘ More resem-
blances, he thinks, might be traced through the Mountain
Indian speech (Naha-'tdinné or Dtché-ta-ut-’tinné) than
directly between the Kutchin and Dog-rib tongues. The
Han-Kutchi of the sources of the Yukon, speak a dialect
of the Kutcha-Kutchi language, yet they understand and
are readily understood by the Indians of Frances Lake
and the banks of the Pelly. Now these converse freely
with the Naha- or Dtché-ta-ut 'tinné, and other Rocky
Mountain tribes, whose language resembles the Dog-rib
tongue, and who are, in fact, acknowledged members of
the Chepewyan nation. Again, the Frances Lake In-
dians understand the Netsilley, or Wild Nation, who
trade at Fort Halkett, on the River of the Mountains;
these again are understood by the Sikiinis; and the Sik-
anis by the Beaver Indians, whose dialect varies little
from that of the Athabascans, the longest-known mem-
ber of the ’Tinné nation.” ®

38 Hardisty, in Smithsonian Rept.. 1506, p. 311
39 Richar son's Jour, vol. i, pp. 400-1; Hooper's Tuski, p. 270,

588 HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

The Kutchins pride themselves on their oratorical

powers, making long, windy, and allegorical speeches re-
markable alike for native wit and eloquence. In
public speaking their delivery is unique and effective;
commencing in a low monotonous tone the voice slowly
rises to a crescendo, then increases to a forte, and
finally rolls forth in grand fortissimo, at which point,
accompanied by striking gestures, it continues until sheer
exhaustion compels the orator to pause for breath. The
speech closes with a ‘most infernal screech,” as Har-
disty calls it, which is supposed to be a clincher to the
most abstruse argument.
. It was among these people, in the vicinity of the junc-
tion of the Tananah with the Yukon River that the
before-mentioned broken Slavé jargon originated. Be-
fore the arrival of foreigners, the necessity of a trade, or
intertribal, language was felt and met, the dialect spoken
on the Liard River forming the basis, With the arrival
of Russians, French, and English successively, each one
of these nationalities contributed of its words to form the
general jargon. Dall says that it is in use among all
western Eskimos who have intercourse with the Tinneh.
The European element in their jargon is very slight,
much less than in the Chinook jargon, from the fact that
but few Europeans have ever come in contact with the
inland tribes of Alaska even in an indirect way.

Following the Tinneh tongue southward from Central
Alaska, we strike the Pacific seaboard at Cook’s Inlet
and Prince William Sound, where we find the Kenai,
with ‘six or more dialects, stretching along the shores of
the Ocean as far as Copper River. The word Kenai, or
as they are sometimes called the Thnaina,” meaning
men, in signification and sound is almo identical with
the word Tinneh, Dinneh, Tinné, Dinay, Tinna, with
many other variations applied to this family.“ Ac-

40 Holmberg, Ethno. Skiz., RP: 6-7; Baer, Stat. u. Ethno., p.97; Vater, Mith-
pen tom. iii., pt iii., p. 228; Dall’s Alaska, p. 430; Latham’s Nat. Races,
i 41 Buse chmann, Athapask. Sprachstamm, p. 223 ;Krusentern, Woerter-Samm-
ung, p. xi.

ratorical
ches re-
ce. In
affective ;
e slowly
rte, and
th point,
itil sheer
th. The
as Har-
r to the

the junc-
that the

ct spoken
1e arrival
each one
form the
mong all
» Tinneh.
y slight,
fact that
with the

h Central
bk’s Inlet
e Kenai,
shores of
Kenai, or
meaning
ical with

Vater, Mith-
Nat. Races,

rter-Samm-

KENAI LINGUISTIO AFFILIATIONS. 689

cording to Sagoskin the Ingaliks, Unakatanas, and others
of the Yukon and Nulato rivers call themselves Ttynai-
chotana.” Veniaminoff, a high authority on matters
coming under his immediate observation, draws erroneous
conclusions from his comparisons of Kenai dialects.
The Kenai language, he says, is divided into four dialects;
the Kenai proper, the Atnah spoken by the Koltshanes
and. the people of Copper River, the Kuskoquim, and the
Kwichpak.“ Baron von Wrangell is of the opinion that
the Kenai are of Thlinkeet stock, affirming that although
their idiom is different yet it comes from the same root
but Dall believes that it might be “more properly
grouped with the Tinneh.”“ The dialect of the Uga-
lenzes, Buschmann confidently asserts, belongs to the
Tinneh family, although its connection with the Kenai
is not strongly marked, while slight traces of the Thlin-
keet tongue are found in it, but not the least shadow of
the Aztec as Vater imagined.“ Long words are of fre-
quent occurrence in the speech of the Ugalenzes; as
for example, chakljtschejalsga, work; tekssekonachalek,
enemy; kakujashatenna, to divide; aukatschetohatle, to
take away.

The Atnah dialect has also been classed with the
Thlinkeet by Baer, who inserts a small comparative
vocabulary to show the similarity, but in it few similar
words are found, while between the Atnah and the

42*So nennen die Seekiistenbewohner Ulukag Mjuten Inkiliken, und-
diese letzten nennen sich selbst entweder nach dem Dorfe, oder im allge
meinen Ttynai-Chotana.’ Sayoskin, Tagebuch, in Russ. Geog. Gesell., Denkschr.,

. 321,
43 Veniaminof, in Erman, Archiv, tom. vii., No. i., p. 128.
44* Thre Sprache ist zwar von der der Koloschen verschieden, stammt aber
von derselben Wurzel ab.’ Baer, Stat. u. Ethno., p. 97.
45 Dall’s Alaska, p. 430,
48*Ich bleide dabei stehn sie fiir eine athapaskische Sprache zu er-
kliren.’ Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek Spr., p.687. ‘Two tribes are found,
on the Pacific Ocean, whose kindred anguages, though exhibiting some
affinities both with that of the Western Eskimaux and with that of the Atha-
ascas, we shall, for the present, consider as forming a distinct family.
hey are the Kinai, in or near Cook's Inlet or River, and the Ugaljachmutzi
{ Ougaluchmioutzy) of Princ> William's Sound.’ Gallatin, in Amer, Antig. Soc.,
vansact., vol. ii., p. 14. e

590 HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

Ugalenze the connection is quite prominent, as for
instance;

tkotschkalak
tedlch
chcke

Come here anatschtja

In like manner the Kenai dialect has been classed
with the Thlinkeet;* but here the preponderance of
evidence is with the Tinneh. Buschmann claims it
as his discovery that the Kenai belong to the Tinneh
family.” The Kenai dialect is very difficult to pronounce,
so much go that even the neighboring people with their
harsh, nasal, and guttural idioms, find great trouble in
enunciating it clearly. Some of the combinations of
consonants are really very curious,”°—aljtnjan, earth;
kyssynj, woman; mijchny, to drink; kefjkatj, to eat;
ktaaltatini, to shoot; kydykntjassnissj, I hear; tschatschee-
tntschichku, do not be afraid ; kazikatejityssny, 1 know not.

Baer makes the Ingalik cognate with Kenai, Atnah,
and Thlinkeet;" an affinity is also detected between the
Inkalit and the Kenai, Atnah, and Unalaska dialects ;”

47 ‘Dieses Volk gehdrt gleich den Ugalenzen zu einem und demselben
Stamme mitden Koloschen ...Auch in der Sprache giebt es mehrere Worter,
die auf cine gemeinschaftliche Wurzel hindeuten,’ Baer, Stat.u. Kthno., p. 99,

43 ‘Geb5rt zu demselben Stamme wie die Galzanen oder Koltschanen,
Atnaer und Koloschen. Dieses bezeugt nicht nur die noch vorhandene
Aehnlichkeit einiger Wérter in den Sprachen dieser Vélker (eine Achnlich-
keit, welche freilich in der Sprache der Koloschen kaum noch merkbar und
fast ginzlich verschwunden ist).’ Baer, Stat, u. Ethno., p. 103,

49 * Dio Kinai, Kenai oder Kenaizen wurden bisher shon als ein Hauptvolk
und ihre Sprache als eine hauptsichliche des russichen Nordomerika’s
betrachtet, Sie veuziehen in ihren Wohnungen an jener Kiiste die grosse
Kinai-Bucht oder den sogenannten Cooks-Fluss. Ihr Idiom galt bisher als
eine se.bststindige und urspriingliche Sprache, Trigerinn mehrerer anderer,
Nach meinen Entdeckungen ist es ein Giied des grossen athapaskischen
Sprachstammes, und seine Verwandten im rnssischen Nord-westen sind an-
dere Gl eder desselben,’ Buschmann, Athapasi. Sprachstamm, p. 223.

8 ‘Die Kenai-Sprache ist, wegen der Menge ihrer Gurgellaute, von allen
Idiomen des russichen Amerika’s am alas Sag auszusprechen, Selbst
die Nachbarn der Kenajer, deren Sprachen schon ein sehr geschmeidiges
Organ erfordern, sind nicht im Stande, Woérter des age ee rein
wiederzugeben.’ Veniaminoff, in Erman, Archiv, tom. vii., No. 1., p. 128,

5t Beer, Stat. u. Hthno., p. 119,

58 * Sie sprechen eine Sprache, die ganz verschieden ist von der an der See-

, a8 for

ENZE

A)
kalak

ntja «7

1 classed
arance of
claims it
e Tinneh
ronounce,
vith their
trouble in
1ations of
in, earth;
, to eat;
schatschee-
know not.
i, Atnah,
tween the
dialects ;”
d demselben
hrere Worter,
Ethno., p. 29.
Koltschanen,
vorhandene

ne Aehnlich-
merkbar und

n Hauptvolk
ordamerika’s
e die grosse
lt bisher als
lerer anderer.
hapaskischen
ten sind an-
, 223.

te, von allen
hen, Selbst
schmeidiges
hischen rein

+» p. 128,
br an der See-

CENTRAL TINNEH DIVISION. 591

while Sagoskin numbers both the Ingalik and the Inka-
lit among the members of the Tinneh family.” Like
those of their neighbors these two dialects are harsh and
difficult of pronunciation, as for instance in the Inkalit,
tschugljkchuja, a fox.

From the earliest times it has been known that the
Koltshanes conld converse freely with the Atnahs and
Kenai, and the relationship existing between these dia-
lects has long been recognized.* As a specimen of the
Koltshane tongue, I present the following: tschijkaje,
eagle; nynkikit, earth; ssyljischitan, cold; sstscheljssilj,
warm; tschilje, man.

‘fo the Tacullies of our central Tinneh division, whose
language Hale separates into eleven dialects, Latham
adds the Sicannis, and other writers the Umpquas and
the Hoopahs.* The northern dialects of this division are
represented as composed of words harsh and difficult to
pronounce, while the southern dialects are softer and
more sonorous, yet robust and emphatic. Mr Hale felt
the necessity of adopting a peculiar style of orthography
to represent the sounds of these words. The Greek
chi he employed to reproduce the Tacully gutturals,
which he says are somewhat deeper than the Spanish
jota, probably nearly akin to the German ch in acht und
achtzig. With? chil he aims to convey a sound which ‘‘is
kiiste gebrinchlichen Sprache der Aleuten von Kadjack; der Dialect der In-
kaliten ist ein Gemisch aus den Sprachen der Kenayer, Unalaschken und
Atnaer....auch die Anwigmiiten und Magimiiten sind Inkaliten.’ Baer,
Stat. wu. Ethno., pp. 120-1,

93 * Der zwei otémme des Volkes Ttynai, hauptsichlich der Inkiliken und
der Tokalvens ug-elnut.’ Sajoskin, Tayebush, in Russ. Geog, Gesell., Denkschr.,
tom. i., Pp 352; Whymper's Alaska, p. 175.

4¢‘Die niher wohnenden gehéren zu demselben Stamme wie die Atnaer
und Kenayer und kénnen sich mit ihnen, obgieich sie eine: anderen Dia-
lect sprechen, verstindigen.’ Baer, Slat, uv. Hinno., p. 101.

5} Domenech's Desrrts, vol. ii., p. 62; Mackenzie's Voyages, p. 284. ‘Their
language is very similar to that of the Chipewyans, and has a great affinity
to the tongues spoken by the Beaver Indians and the Sicaunes. Between
all the different villages of the Carriers, there prevails a difference of dialect,
to such an extent, that they often give different nmes to the most common
utensils.’ Harmon's Jour., pp. 285-6, 379, 193, 196; Ludewwig’s Ab. Lang., p.
178. ‘ Les Indiens de Incdte ou de la Nouvelic “alédonie, les Tokalis, les
Chirgeurs (Carri-rs), les Schouchonaps, les Atnas, appartiennent tous & lo
nition des Chipeuhalans.’ Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 337; Gallatin, in Amer.

Antiq. Soc., Transret., vol. ii, p. 20. ‘A branch of the great se
(Athapascan) stock.’ 77's Hihnog., in U. 8. He. Ex., vol. vi., p. 202.

592 HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

a combination uttered by forcing out the breath at the
side of the mouth between the tongue and the palate.” *
In the following words instead of the Greek chi, I write
kh, and for t chil, sch. Schling, dog; schluk, fish ; sutschon,
good; kwun, fire; kuh, house; schhell, mountain; ése,
stone; kuschka:, run.

Hale is the only author who gives any information of
the two tribes Tlatskanai and Kwalhioqua. The Kwal-
hioquas dwell on the north bank of the Columbia, near
its mouth; but between them and the river there runs a
wedge of Chinook territory. The former are to be found
south of the river, on a narrow strip extending north
and south. Being nearly related to the Tacully, these
languages also belong to the Tinneh family. The only
vocabulary obtainable is given by Mr Hale. Round the
headwaters of the river Umpqua live the people of that
name, speaking a language related to the two last men-
tioned, but which, if we may believe Mr Hale, is “much
softer than the others.”

Scouler, who has made a curious classification of the
languages of north-western America, places the Umpqua in
the same family with the Calapooya and Yamkally under
the general name of Cathlascon.” The southernmost
dialect of this division is that of the Hoopahs, on Trinity,
River. Upon the authority of Mr Powers, ‘‘the Hoopa
language is worthy of the people who speak it—copious
in its vocabulary; robust, sonorous, and strong in utter-
ance; of a martial simplicity and rudeness in con-
struction.” Again he writes, ‘as the Hoopas remind
one of the Romans among savages, so is their language
something akin to the Latin in its phonetic characteris-
tics: the idiom of camps—rude, strong, laconic. Let a
grave and decorous Indian speak it deliberately, and
every word comes out like the thud of a battering-ram
against a wall, For instance let the render take the
words for ‘devil’ and ‘death’—keetoanchwa and chcochwit
—and note the robust strength with which they can be

56 Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ee., vol. vi.,
57 Seouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. %i. ” a; Hines’ Voy., p. 117.

at the
late.” ®
I write
itschon,
in; ése,

stion of
. Kwal-
ja, near
runs &
e found
y north
y, these
he only
und the
of that
ist men-
“much

1 of the
pqua in
y under
ernmost
Trinity,
e Hoopa
opious
n utter-
in con-
remind
nguage
acteris-
Let a
ply, and
ng-ram
ke the
Acochunt
y can be

» p. 117.

VOCABULARY OF HOOPAH DIALECTS. 598
uttered. What a grand roll of drums there is in that
long, strong word, conchwilchwil.” Mr Powers gives
the following declension: I, Awe; father, hoota; my
father, hwehoota; you, nine; your father, nineta; mother,
necho; death, cheechwit; your mother's death, nincho cheech-
wit.”

On the western slope of Mount Shasta, there is the
Wi-Lackee language, which bears a close likeness to the
Hoopah; on Mad River is the Lassic and on Eel River
the Siah, both probably Hoopah dialects, and on Smith
River in Del Norte County, the Haynaggi, Tolewah and
Tahahteen, also presumably Hoopah and Wi-Lackee dia-
lects. The following comparative table of the numerals
in the Tolewah, Hoopah, and Wi-Lackee dialects, will
serve to illustrate their relationship.

TOLEWAH. HOOPAH. WI-LACKEE
On chla chla clyhy
two nacheh nach nocka
Thre: tacheh tach tock
Four tencheh tinckh tenckha
Five swoila chwola tusculla
Six osténeh hostan cooslac
Seven tsayteh ochkit coosnac
Eight lanesh tnata cahnem coostac
Nine chla ntuch nocésta coosténckha
Ten neh sun minchla kwang enta

In the southern and last division of the Tinneh family
are found the great Apache and Navajo nations, with
their many dialects. ‘The Apaches may be said to in-
habit or rather to roam over the country, commencing
at the Colorado desert and extending east to the Rio
Pecos, or froin about 108° to 114° west long., and from
Utah Territory into the states of Sonora, Chihuahua,
Coahuila, Nueve feon, and Texas, or from about 38° to
30° north Jui. Herdlv iwo authors agree in stating the
number and name; cf the different tribes belonging to
this nation.” The names by which they are known

58 Powers, in Overland Monthly, vol. ix., pp. 157-8; Gibbs, in School-
craft's Arch., vol, iii., ps 422; Turner, in Pac. R R. Rept., vol. iii., pp. 87-5.

‘Ich habe spiter die foopah Sprache wirklich fir cine athapaskische ange-
nominen.’ Buschmann, Spuren der ane. Dan

p. 576,
® Bartlett's Pers. Nar., vol. i., Pay ‘Desde el Real de Chigu agua,
a,

cruzando al Ponie nite, husta el rio y subiendo al Norto, hasta el Moqui,
Von,

504 . HYVPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

among themselves are, according to Orozco y Berra:
Vinni ettinen-ne, Segatajen-ne, Tjuiccujen-ne, Iccujen-ne,
Yutajen-ne, Sejen-ne, Cuelcajen-ne, Lipajen-ne, for which
the Mexicans have substituted, such words as Apaches,
Tontos, Chiricaguis, Gilefios, Mimbrejios, Faraones,
Mescaleros, Llaneros, Lipanes, and Navajos.° The na-
tions that make up this great people are the Chiricaguis
in north-eastern Sonora; Coyoteros in the Gila country;
Faraones, west of New Mexico 1n the Sierras del Diablo,
Chanate, and Pilares; Gilefios at the eastern base of the
Sierra de los Mimbres south of the Rio Gila; the people
of the copper mines on both bunks of the Rio Grande,
ranging wesi to the Coyoteros and Pinaleiios, and also
into Chihuahua ani ora, and at Lake Guzman west
of Paso del Norte; {. . :panes, or Ipandes, in Texas;

y Nuevo México, y Provincias de Texas y Quahuila; y revolviendo al Sur
remata en el sobredicho Real.’ Arricivita, Crénica Serdfica, p. 338; Vater,
Mithridates, tom. iii., ptiii., p. 177; Mihlenpfordt, Mejico, tom. i., pp. 212-3;
‘Extend from the black mountains in New México to the frontiers of Cog-
uilla.’ Pike's Explor. Trav., (Phil. 1810,) appendix, p. 10; Turner, in Pac.
R. R. Rept., vol. iii., P- 83; Malte-Brun, Precis de la Géog., tom. vi., p
446; Pope, in Pac. R. BR. Rept., vol. ii., p. 13; Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek.
Spr., P. 298; Ludewiy’s Ab. Lang., p.8. ‘Se extienden en el vasto espacio
de dicho continente, que cotaprenten los grados 3U & 38 de latitud Norte,
y 264 4 277 de longitud de ‘Tenerife.’ Cordero, in Orozco y Berra, Geonrafia,
p. 369; Villa-Sevior y Sanchez, Theatro, tom. ii., pp. 493, et seq. ‘Tota hac
regio, quam Novam Mexicanam vocant, ab omnibus pene lateribus ambitur
ab Apachibus.’ Laet, Novus Orbis, p, 316; Venegas, Noticia de ls Cal., tom.
ii 3; Orozco y Berra, Geografia, P. ;
© Orozco y Berra, Geografia, p. 369. ‘La nacion apache es una misma
aunque con las denominaciones de Gileiios, Carlanes, Chilpaines, Xicarillas,
Faraones, Mescaleros, Natules, Lipanes, etc. varia poco en su idioma,’ Doc.
Hist. Mex., série iv., tom. iii., p. 10. ‘Los Apaches se dividen en cinco
parcialidades como son: Tontos 6 Coyoteros, Chiricnhues, Gileiios, Fara-
ones, Mescaleros, Llaneros, Lipanes, Xicarillas y otras.’ Barreivo, Ojeada,
appendix, p. 7. Browne mentions the Gila Apaches, and as belonging to
them Mimbrenns, Chiricahuns, Sierra Blancas, Pinal Nanos, Coyoteros,
Cominos, Tontos, xn Mogallones.’ Apache Country, p. 290; Vater, Mithri-
dates, tom. iii., pt iii., pp. 7-8; Miihlenpfordt, Mejico, tom.i., p. 211. ‘Tho
Apache; from which branch the Navajos, Apaches, Coyoteros, Mescaleros,
oquis, Yabipias, Maricopas, Chiricaguis, Chemegunbas, Yumayas (the
last two tribes of the Moqui), and the Nijoras, a small tribe on the Gila.’
Ruzton's Adven, Mez., p. 194; Ind, Af. Rept., 1857, p. 298; 1858, pp. 205-6;
1854, p. 18); 1861, p». 122; 1862, p. 288; 1863, p. 108; 1864, p. 156; 1865, p.
606; 1869, p. 234; Humboldt, Essai Pol., tom. i., p. 289. ‘Los apaches
se dividen en nueve parcialidades 6 tribus.’ Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii., p.
261. ‘Since acquiring the Apache language, I have discovered that they
(Lipans) are n branch of that great tribe, speaking identically the same lan-
guage, with the exception of a few terms and names of be big wry in
eir region and not generally known to those branches which inhubit Ari-
zona and New Mexico.’ Cremony’s Apaches, p. 21.

Berra:
jen-ne,
which
aches,
‘aones,
he na-
icaguis
untry ;
Diablo,
of the
people
trande,
nd also
un west
Texas;
io al Sur
38; Vater,
pp. 212-3;
rs of Cog-
er, in Pac.
Mm. Vi.» De
der Aatek E
fPAacio

SPEECH OF THE APACHE TRIBES. 595

the Llaneros, north-east of Santa Fé, and northerly of
the Rio Rojo de Natchitoches or Rio Pecos; Mescaleros,
in the Sierras del Diablo, Chanate, Pilares, and on
both banks of the Rio Tuerco, above its confluence with
the Rio Grande; the Natages, or Natajes, in Texas near
the Lipanes; the Pelones, in Coahuila; the Pinalefios,
in the Sierras del Pinal and Blanca; the Tejuas, east
of the Rio Grande, in the Gila country; the Tontos, in
north-eastern Sonora, in the north-east near the Seris in
the Pimeria Alta, and south of the Maricopas and
the Rio Gila; the Vaqueros in the eastern part of New
Mexico; the Mimbrefios, in the Sierra de los Mimbres,
west of Paso del Norte, and in the south-western end of
New Mexico, on the northern boundary of Chihuahua.”
The Xicarillas, whose dialect forms the principal con-
necting link between the Apache language and the
Tinneh family, live on the Rio de los Osos, west of the
Rio Grande; also in the Moro Mountains and a’:ng the
Cimarron.” All the Apache tribes speak dialects but
slightly varying from one another, and all can converse
easily together. Different accentuations and some pecul-
iar vocal appellations are, for the most part, all that
constitute severalness in these dialects. Don José Cortéz
states that ‘‘the utterance of the language is very violent,
but it is not so difficult to speak as the first impression

61 Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr., p. 303, et seq. ‘El intermedio
del Colorado y Gila, ocupan los yavipnistejua, y otros yavipais; al sur del
Moqui son todos yavipais, que es lo mismo que apaches, donde se conoce
el gran terreno que ocupa esta nacion.’ Garcés, Diario, in Doc. Hist. Mez.,
strie ii., tom, i., p. 352; San Francisco Evening Bulletin, Feb, 18, 1864. Padilla
mentions the following nations with the Apaches: ‘Apaches, Pharaones,
Natagees, Gilas, Mescaleros, Cosninas, Quurtelejos, Palomas, Xicarillas,
Yutas, Moquinos.’ Cong. N. Galicia, MS., p 785; Cortez, Hist. Apache Na-
tions, in Pac. R. R, Rept., vol. iii., pp. 118-20. ‘The Apaches, the Nava-
hoes, and the Lipans, of Texas, speak dialects of the same language.
The Jicarillas, (Hic-ah-ree-ahs) Mescaleros, Tontos, and Coyotens, are all
bands of Apaches; and I am induced to think the Garoteros are also an off-
shoot from the Apache tribe,’ Lane, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. v., p. 689.

62 ‘A distancia de cinco leguas, al mesmo rumbo (north of Taos), esta una
Nacion de Indios, que llaman Xicarillas.’ Villa-Senor 4 Sanchez, Theatro, tom.
ii, p. 420; Davis, in Ind. Aff. Rept, 1869, p. 255. Xicarillas, Apache
Indians of northern New Mexico. ‘Their language shows affinity with the
Se Athabascan stock of languages. Buschmann, Spr. N. Mex. u. der

estseite des B, Nordamer., p. 274; Id., Spuren der Astek, Spr., pp. 318-9;
Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. v., p. 203.

606 HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

of it would lead one to suppose; for the ear, becoming
accustomed to the sound, discovers a cadence in the
words.” “It has great poverty, both of expression and
words.” It appears as well that the harsh gutturals so
constantly heard among the northern members of the
Tinneh family, frequently occur in the Apache dialects.
Bartlett writes, ‘‘it sounds like a combination of Polish,
Chinese, Choctaw, and Dutch. Grunts and gutturals
abound, and there is a strong resemblance to the Hot-
tentot click. Now blend these together, and as you
utter the word, swallow it, and the sound will be a fair
specimen of an Apache word.” Apache affiliations
have been surmised by different writers, with nearly all
their neighbors, and even with more distant nations.
Arricivita hints at a possible relationship with the Otom{,
because an Otom{ muleteer told him that he could con-
verse with the Apaches. The Shoshone and Comanche
dialects have also been referred to the Tinneh trunk, but
in reality they ‘elong to the Sonora vernacular, a dis-
covery first made by Turner, and proved by Buschmann.

Col. Cremony, who was interpreter for the United
States Mexican boundary commission, and hence convers-
ant with the Apache language, gives some valuable
grammatical notes. ‘Their verbs” he says ‘‘express the
past, present and future with much regularity, and have
the infinitive, indicative, subjunctive and imperative
moods, together with the first, second and third persons,
and the singular, dual and plural numbers. Many of

® Cortez, Hist. Apache Nations, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii., p. 120. ‘Hab-
lan un mismo idioma, y aungue varia el acento y tal cual voz provincial, no
influye esta diferencia que dejen de entenderse rec{procamente.’ Orozco y
Berra, Geografia, p. 369,
6t Bartlett's Letter, in Literary World, April 24, 1852, pp. 298-9. ‘It
abounds equally with gutttiral, hissing and indistinctly uttered mixed in-
tonations, ...It abounds in the sound of tz, 50 common in the Shemitic Jan-
guages, of 7! of d and the rough rr....It may be suggested that its proper
oe are to be found in the Athpasca.’ Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol..v., pp.

6 ‘Le pregunté que si acaso entendia la lengua de los Apaches, y satis-
fizo con que era la misma Otomite que él hablaba, y solo con la diferencia
de que ellos variaban la significacion de muchos vocablos que en la suya
querian decir otras cosas: pero por el contexto de las otras palabras, facil-
mente se entendian,’ Arricivita, Cronica Serdfica, p. 339.

coming
in the
ion and
‘urals so
s of the
ialects.
’ Polish,
rutturals
he Hot-
as you
be a fair
filiations
early all
nations.
1e Otomi,
ould con-
‘omanche
runk, but
ar, a dis-
schmann.
United
b convers-
valuable
press the
nd have
nperative
persons,
Many of

120. ‘Hab-
ovincial, no
6.’ Orozco y

298-9. ‘It
1 mixed in-
Ihemitic Jan-

its proper
vol..vV., pp»

hes, y satis-
diferencia
pen la suya
labras, facil-

APACHE GRAMMAR. 597
them are very irregular, and depend upon auxiliaries
which are few. Inall that relates to special individuality
the language is exacting; thus, shee means I, or me;
but shee-dah means I myself, or me myself ; dee means
thee or thou; but dee-dah means you yourself especially
and personally, without reference to anv other being.
When an Apache is relating his own personal adventures
he never says shee for I, because that word, in some
sense, includes all who were present and took any part
in the affair but he uses the word shee-dah, to show that the
act was wholly his own. The pronouns are: shee—I;
shee-dah—I myself; dee—thee or thou; dee-dah, thee
thyself; aghan—it, he, her, or they. ‘I'he word to-dah
means no, and all their affirmatives are negatived by
dividing this word so as to place the first syllable in
front and the second in the rear of the verb to be nega-
tived. For example, ink-tah means, sit down, but to
say, do not sit down, we must express it to-ink-tah-dah;

nuest-chee-shee, come here; to-nwest-chee-shee-dah, do not
come here; anah-zont-tee, begone:; to-anah-zont -tee-dah, do
not begone.”

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE, AH GHONTAY.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I am, tak-she We are, _tan-ah-hee-ah-aht-tee
Thou art, tan-dee-ah-aht-tee * You are, nah-hee-ah-aht-tee
He is, tah-annah They are, aghan-day-aht-tee
IMPERFECT,
I was, tash-ee-ah-ash-ee

Thou wast, dee-ah-alt-een

He was, tah-annah-kah-on-yah,

We were, akannah-sin-kah

You were, nah-hee-dah-a-kan-nah-dash-shosh

They were, aghan-do-doh-ah-kah-gah-kah

FIRST FUTURE.

I shall be, she-ah-dosh-’n-dahl | We shall be, nah-he-do-gont-ee dahl
Thou wilt my dee-ay-goh-ay-dah! | You will be, nah-he-nah-hat-han-dahl
He will be, ando-ay-gah-ee-dahl | They will be, nah-hayt-han-dahl

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO DO, AH GOSH LAH.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I do, she-ash-lah We do, tah-nah-hee-ab-ghont-lah
Thon dost, tan-dee-aghon-lah You do, —_ nnh-hee-ah-ghast-lah
He does _tah-pec-ay-il-lah They do, tah-goh-pee-ah-goh-lah

5 oe Apaches, p. 239; Id., in Overland Monthly, Sept. 1868, pp.

598 HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

I did, tah-she-ash-lah We did, tah-nah-kee-and-lah
Thou didst, dee-and-lah You did, nah-hee-alt-lah
He did, pee-ind-lah They did, goh-pee-ah-goh-nind-lah

FIRST FUTURE.
I shall do, tash-ee-ah-dosh-leel
Thou wilt do, dee-ah-goh-dont-leel
He will do, tah-pee-aye-dabl-teel
We shall do, tah-nah-he-ah-go-dont-leel
You will do, nah-he-ah-dash-leel
They willdo, go-pee-ah-guill-dab-leel

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.

If I do, she-ash-lah-nah-ah If we do, tah-nah-hee-ant-lah

Ifthoudo, dee-alt-in-dahl If youdo, nah-hee-alt-lah

If he do, tah-pee-ayilt-in-dahl Iftheydo, go-pee-ah-wilt-ce
IMPERATIVE.

Do thou, eah-and-lah

PRESENT PABTICIPLE,
Doing, ah-whee-lah

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO EAT, ISH SHAN.

PRESENT INDICATIVE,
We eat, tah-nah-de-hit-tahn
You eat, nah-he-naloh-in-day
They eat, goh-pee-goo-iz-yan
PERFECT.
I have eaten, she-ohz-yan
Thou hast eaten, dee-schlee-ohn-nah
He has eaten, aghan-ohnz-yan
We have eaten, tah-nah-hee-al-ke-dah-ohn-tan
You have eaten, nah-he-ahz-yan
They have eaten, goh-pee-go-yohnz-yan
FIRST FUTURE.

I eat, she-ish-shan
Thou eatest, deah-in-nah
He eats, aghan-iz-yan

I shall eat, she-go-ish-shan
Thou wilt eat, | dee-doh-in-mah-dahl
He will eat, aghandob-iz-yan

We shall eat, tah-nah-hee-hin-tahn-dahl
You will eat, nah-he-goh-an-shan
They will eat, goh-pee-goh-iz-yan-dahl
IMPERATIVE.
Eat thou, _ tan-dee-in-nah | Let them eat, tah-goh-pee-niz-yan

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO SLEEP, II, HOOSH.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I sleep, she-ish-hoosh We sleep, tah-nah-he-il-hoosh

Thou sleepest, dee-ilt-hoosh You sleep, noh-he-il-hoosh

He sleeps, aghan-it-hoosh They sleep, _ go-pee-will-hoosh
PERFECT

I have slept, she-al-kee-dah-ish-hash
Thou hast slept, dee-al-kee-dah-ish-hash
He has slept, aghando-ish-hash

We have slept, tah-nah-he-al-kee-dah-il-gash
You have slept, nah-he-al-kee-dah-al-hoosh
They have slept, go-pee-al-kee-dah-go-il-gash

GRAMMAR OF THE APACHE MESCALERO.

FIRST FUTURE.
I shall sleep, she-do-ish-hoosht-tahl
Thou wilt sleep, dee-do-dohl-goosh
He will sleep, aghando-il-hoosht-dahl
We shall sleep, tah-nah-he-do-il-goosh-tahl
You will sleep, | nah-he-doh-al-hoosh-tahl
They will sleep, go-pee-go-will-hoosh-tahl

IMPERATIVE.

Sleep thou, dee-ilh-hoosh
Sleep you, nah-hee-doh-al-hoosh
Sleep they, go-pee-go-il-hoosh

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO LOVE, IN KAY GO ISHT LEE.

PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I love, sheah-in-kay-go-isht-lee| We love, tan-ah-hee-in-kay-go-it-lee
Thou lovest, deah-vick-kay-go-int-lee| You love, nah-he-vick-kay-at-lee
He loves, aghan-ee-kay-g»-it-lee | They love, goh-pee-vick-kay-go-it-lee
IMPERFECT.

I loved, she-in-kay-go-isht-leeth-lay

Thou lovedst, dee-vick- re o-int-leeth-lee

He loved, aghan-vick-kay-go-it-leelth-lee

We loved, tan-ah-hee-vick-kay-int-leelth-lee
You loved, nah-he-vick-kay-at-leelth-lee
They loved, go-pee-vick-kay-go-leelth-lee

FIRST FUTURE.
Thou wilt love, dee-vick-kay-go-isht-lee-dahl
He will love, aghan-vick-kay-go-it-lee-dahl
I shall love, she-in-kay-go-isht-lee-dahl
We shall love, tah-nah-he-vick-kay-go-it-tlee-dahl
You will love, nah-he-vick-kay-at-tlee-dahl
They willlove, goh-pee-vick-kay-go-it-tlee-dahl

IMPERFECT POTENTIAL.
I should love, she 'dn-vick-kay-go-isht-leel-dahl
Thou shouldst love, dee ’dn-vick-kay-go-isht-leel-dahl
He should love, aghan-vick-kny-ich-klee-dahl
We should love, tah-nah-he- yc s-kay-go-in-klee-dahl
You should love, nab-he-vick :. 1y-go-in-klee-dahl
They should love, gon-pee-vick-kay-go-in-klee-dahl

IMPERATIVE,

Love thou, vick-kay-go-it-lee
Love you, nah-he-vick-kay-at-lee
Letthem love, goh-pee-vick-kay-go-it-lee

NUMERALS,
tash-ay-ay Sixteen host-kon-sah-tah-hay
nah-kee Seventeen host-ee-sah-tah-hay
kah-yay ! tan-pee-sah-tah-ha
in-yeh *n-ghost-ah-sah-tah-hay
asht-lay natin-yay
host-kon-nay kah-tin-yay
host-ee-day c tinsh-tin-yay
hah-pee 1 asht-lah-tin-yay
‘n-ghost-ay host-kon-tin-yay
o-nay-nan-nay host-ee-tin-yay
klats-ah-tah san-vee-tin-yay
nah-kee-sah-tah inety 'n-ghost-ab-tin-yay
kah-yay-sah-tah One hundred _tah-len-too-ooh
C tin-sah-tah-hay One thousand go-nay-nan-too-ooh
Fifteen asht-lay-sah-tah-hay | Two thousand nab-tin-ee-too-ooh

600 HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

The following sentences will serve as specimens to show
the construction of this language.

Whence come you? hash-ee-ohn-dahl?

I come from afar, an-dah-she-oh-thal.

I am a friend, tah-in-joon-ay-ish-lee.

What do you want? ee-ya-althe-ee 'n?

There are wood, water, and grass, tooh-tlo-chee-gon-lee.

Go and watch the enemy, nii-dah-bin-naht-hah-aden-he.

Take notice of them, gon-joon-ay-go-hah-den-ee.

Of what nation are they? yah-indah-aht-ee?

Where is their camp? hah-ay-vee-goat-hah?

Note well their position, gon-joon-ay-go-nel-he-hayago-
ah-tay-na-lee.

They are near by, goh-pee-ach-han-nay-she-go.

I do not believe it, too-vah-osht-lah-dah.

Show me the road, in-tin-dee-she-chee-toh-golt-chee.

Mine, shee.

It is mine, es-shee,

Thine, dee.

It is his or hers, ah-koon-pee.

It is not mine, too-she-dah.

It is not thine, too-in-dee-dah.

It is not his or hers, too pedals

These, tee-hay-ah.

Those, ah-wayh-hay-yah.

As a further illustration, I give a speech made by
General Carleton during an interview with the Mesca-
leros, which was translated and written down at the
time ‘by Col. Cremony.

Nah-heedn day nah goodnltay; toogo take headah;

Your people are bad; they have not kept faith;
bayay geah gontay; schlee nahhah goh inay een;
they are treacherous; they have stolen our horses;

nahgah godilt say; nahhannah gwinhea ay endah ah tay;
they have murdered our people; they must make amends;

too nahhan neet ee dah; tah nakee ahendah adenh dee;

they must cease troubling us; they must obey our orders;

show

1yago-

de by
esca-
nt the

adah;
faith;

een;

tay;

dee;

SPEECH IN THE MESCALERO DIALECT. 601

nah schleen nahhannah weedah ayl; han eganday

they must restore our animals; they must
nahhannah goee dalt yeal; enday nahhah hitjash
give up the murderers; they must give us
toohayago andadah; alkeedah llaynah ildee; eschlanay

hostages; let them remember past times; they were

vaygo daht eel; saylth lee goh-pee; taat hooay takee

numerous and powerful; they held all the sierras; they occupied all

anah goh kah; tah golkahay takay ikay goon lee;
the water-holes; they were masters of the plains;

tash lainah too nelchedah. Ako ahn day hahdah?

none made them afraid. Where are they now?

Eeyah veeahkah tsay nogoshee 'n nilt ee? Nakay eeah
Why do they hide behind rocks? Where is their

heddah? Bahyay kay ’n nilt ee? She aghan iltisch
possession? Wuy do they hide like coyotes? I will tell

in dee. taykay indah nash lee; taykay ay
them why; _ they have been enemies to all other people; they have made

veeakah nah hindah; tahnahhe elchindah nah hee;

all other people their enemies; they have made enemies of each other;
tannahee eedaltsay ayveeahkah hee nahindah; too nah
they have lived by robbery and murder; they have
yah seedah; tah nalkoneeay vickaygo tee en nahseego;
not worked; idleness breeds want;

tee en nahseego chin nah hilt yeeay; chevilheeaygo

want breeds hunger; hunger

vilkonyeago takhoogo ont yeal; yont hooaygo anaht eel;

and idleness breed crime; they have committed crimes;
takhoogo ninis yah; aghon ahltay koohaygo naht lee;
the punishment has fallen onthem; their thousands have become hundreds;
elchinalcheego vickeah golt seel; nahee vah ahtee
we speak harsh truths; we speak so only for

elchinahtee; naschayhay too ahnah __lahdah;

their good; we have no vengeance in our hearts;

Elchinalcheego inklees andah ’n june; nah kashee
Our talk is hard but good; let them

vanan an keeays; anahtay kahdayah too wakhahdah;

reflect upon it; let them change their ways;
innee nahl ash lah; ilk jeel eego andah ’n june.”
let them cultivate the earth; let them be a strong but a good people.

67 Prepared at Fort Sumner, Bosque Redondo, on the Pecos River, New
Mexico, in 1863, as certified by Brig. Gen. James H. Carleton, U. 8. A., and

602 HYPERBOREAN LANGUAGES.

Mr Dorr, writing in the Overland Monthly, makes an
erroneous assertion that the Apache and Zuiii languages
are the same, ‘differing only in accent, intonation, and
cadence, they understand each other without difficulty.
The Zufii, or Apache language is very flexible and
suave, and may at some time have been the Court lan-
guage of the ancient races. It is often as expressive of
fine shades of distinction as even the Greek itself. It
preserves—in the adyta of its wonderful radicals—the
traditional duality of the human race: its dual, as well
as singular and plural, forms of speech.”®

Vater intimates a relationship between the Apaches
and the Pawnees, and that chiefly on the ground of a
similarity in the names Pawnees and Lipanes.”

Pimentel gives a Lord’s Prayer in the Lipan dialect,
which will serve as a specimen of the language:

‘Cutall nezllé ezlld anel ti qui Llatd; setezdanela net
agi nautela; nosesene nda tendajé Ile agi tandé:
tanzanenda agé atanclaju, senegui ti ezllza glezi, aj ulld
ti lle lata; Lie tulatan nezllé ja lagé tatichi anizané
tatichi en gucecen dé joullé vandaezhé lenegui ajulli
da yé nachezonllé tenagé vandaezhec en ne zto agatenjé
tendd tlez ti tezchupanen da glicéa genechi te najacengli
Gaache lyé net.’”

The Navajos, or Apache Navajos, of New Mexico,
like the northern Tinneh, call themselves Tennai, men.
Their dialect approaches the Xicarilla Apache, and Mr
Baton even asserts that it is about the same.” Pike
mentions the Nanahaws, which name is probably intended
for Navajos, as no other account can be found of such
a people.
prea fs gy veel eo erg i ded

63 Dorr's Ride with the Apaches, in Overland Monthly, vol. vi., p. 343.

6 Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt. iii., p. 179.

7 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii., p. 251, and in Coleccion Polidiémica Mexicana
bya 3 Ia Oracion Dominical; por la Sociedad Mex. Geog. y Estad.,

1 *The ‘Apaches call the Navajoes Yi-tah-kah. The Navajoes call
themselves, asa tribe, Tendiai (man.) The pppeliasion Navajo, was unques-
tionably given them by the Spaniards.’ aton, in Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol.

iv., pp. 217-8; Méllhausen, Tagebuch, B. 929, ‘Gehdrt ebenfalls zur Familie
der Kpaches.’ Id., Reisen, tom. ii., p. 236.

:
:
:

kekyqeyq| oaqqea ){viv-qsv}

ysed ofequamoo

"pul 4, q7I0N
“9 -ofeauyy
****xnayonoey
*-enboryyea y

‘ATINVA HINNIL FHL JO AUVIOAVOOA AAILVAVdNOO

Mexico,
i, men.

and Mr

Pike
tended
of such

ues-
vol

's Vocabu-

343.

Mexicana

y Estad.,

pjoes call
q

r Familie

un
i rch.,

CHAPTER III.

COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

Tue Harak, rrs Construction AND ConsUGATION—THE Nass LANGUAGE AND
irs DraLecTs—BELLACOOLA AND CrIMsYAN CoMPABISONS—THE NOOTKA
LaNGuaGEs oF VANCOUVER IstanD—NaNnatmo Ten COMMANDMENTS AND
Lorp’s Praven—AzTEC ANALOGIES—FRASER AND THOMPSON RivER Lan-
Guaces—TuHr NEETLAKAPAMUCK GRAMMAR AND Lorp’s PrayveER—SouND
Lanauaces—Tue Saris Famruxy-—-Frarzean Grammar AnD Lorp's
Prayer—Tue KoorenaI—TuHE SaHAPtTiIn Famitry—Nxzz Perct GRAMMAR
—Yarma Lorp’s Pravern—Sanaptin State anp Siive Lanavaces—
Tue Cainook Faminy—GraMMAR OF THE CHINOOK LANGUAGE—AZTEC
AFFINITIES—THE CuINCOK JARGON.

Returned from the south, whither we were led by the
Apache branch of the Tinneh family, let us examine
the languages of our Columbian group. Next along
the sea-board, south of the Thlinkeets, are the Haidahs
and Kaiganies, whose language is spoken on the southern
part of the Prince of Wales Archipelago, and on Queen
Charlotte Island. This language is sometimes called
Haidah, and sometimes Kaiganie,' and although many
tribes belong to these nations, I find among them no
dialectic difference, except that between the Haidahs of
Queen Charlotte Island and the Kaiganies of the
Prince of Wales Archipelago.

Marchand claims that this language is understood by

1 ‘Die Kaigan-Sprache wird auf der Insel Kaigan und den Charlotten
Inseln....gesprechen.’ Veniuminoff, in Erman, Archiv, tom. vii., No. i,

» 128
, (604)

THE HAIDAH AND KAIGANIE. 605

the Thlinkeets and other eastern tribes;? Capt. Dixon
thinks it is a distinct and separate tongue;’ Scouler
makes one large northern family, which he says spreads
“from the Arctic Circle to the northern extremity of
Quadra and Vancouver's Island ;”* Radloff’s comparative
researches incline him to the opinion that, although
there may be a few similarities in words between this
and other idioms, as, for example, the Thlinkeet. they
are yet insufficient to prove identity.°

Some of those who have heard the Haidahs speak, say
that their language is uncouth and difficult to articulate,
abounding in consonants, and with a labial and dental
pronunciation ;* others affirm that it does not possess the
hard aspirated consonants £9 frequently found in the
Thlinkeet language, that it is richer in vowels and
softer, though, like the Thlinkeet, it is wanting in labials,
in the dental r, and in the guttural /, while the Haidah
has the clear J... The Haidah language lacks the letters
b, p, f, and the dental r; neither its substantives nor
adjectives have any gender, and to expzess the feminine

2 ‘En parlant du langage de Tchinkitdind, j'ai rapporté d’avance les
termes numériques employés aux files de Queen-Charlotte, tels que le
capitaine Chaunal a pu les recueillir ¢ Cloak-Bay; il observe que quelques-
uns de ces termes sont communs aux avires parties de ces {sles qu'il a
visitées, ainsi que quelques autrcs termes qu’il a pu saisir, et par lesquels
les Naturels expriment ies objets suivanes.....Cette similitude des termes
numériques ‘t d'autres termes, employés égelement par les diverses Tribus,
séparées les anes des autres, qui occupent la partie de cétes des iles de
Queen-Chavivite que le Capitaine Chanal a visitée, me semble démontrer,
contre l’opinion hasardée du Rédacteur du Journal de Dixon, que ces
Tribus communiquent habituellement entre elles; cvtte identité du langage
pourroit encore prouver que les Peuplades qui habitent ces files ont une
origine commune,’ Marchand, Voyaye, tom. ii., p. 216.

‘There are at least two or three different languages spoken on the coast,
and yet probably they are all pretty generally understood; though if we may
credit the old Chief at Queen Charlotte’s Islands, his people were totally
ig of that spoken by the inhabitants to the Eastward.’ Dizon's Voy.,
p. 240,

4 Scouler, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. ii., pp. 218, 220,

5 Radloff, Sprache der Kaijanen, in Meél. Russes, tom. iii., liv. v., p. 575;
Green, in Amer, Antig, Soc., Transact., vol, iii., p. 302,

6 Dizon's Voy., p. 240.

7 * Es fehlen dem Kaigini (Haidah) jene harten aspirirten Consonanten,
die dem Thiink{t so geliutig sind, es ist vocnlreicher und weicher. Dagegen
theilt est mit dem Thlinkit den Mangel der Labialen, des dentalen r, wie
auch der Verbindung des 1 mit Dentalen, Gutturalen und Sibilanten,
wihrend jenem, dagegen das reine 1 des Kaigani gains fremd ist.’ Radloff,

-

Sprache der Kaiganen, in Mél., Russes, tom iii., iiv. v., pp. 575-6,

606 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

the word dshetta, woman, is added. tlk dshetta, wife
of the chief; Aa, dog; ha dshetta, slut. Neither is
there any particular expression for the plural. Kjéganei,
my house; Ajeganei tlidnal ldgun, my three houses are
good; tin dsha, thy wife; tén dsha s'téng hdna, thy two
wives are both pretty. ‘T'wo exceptions have been men-
tioned ;—qjed, mast; gjedng hléiuhl, three masts; hdtd,
man (homo); Adéei, men. Substantives are not declined,
but remain unchanged in all cases. Hantl, water; hall
hantl, bring water; tu, boat; du tin gistasa, I give thee
a boat; Katt, deer; katt hutsu ziggin, | have a small deer;
siei, and; hall tin siei, give thy hand. Pronouns are
either distinct words, or are prefixes to su-bstantives
and verbs. Prefixes also denote the possessive case.
To the former class belong Adldé, I; and tonga, thou.
To the latter belong ée, ti, de, di, zi, Kje, teea, tl, t, mine,
all of which are used in the first person singular. Sec-
ond person singular, téng, tén, ten, thine; second: person
plural, ‘éUéng, yours.

Of the conjugation of the verb, the following may
serve as example: Present indicative—I am hungry,
tekutke; thou art hungry, ting khittus; he is hungry,
law khittung; we are hungry, il khiittung; you are
hungry, tilling khittus; they are hungry, énnas khilttung.
Root words are not of great length. ‘The larger part are
words of one or two syllables; some are of three or four,
but these are rare; nevertheless, words may be agglutin-
ated to any length.’ .

The Nass language is spoken with very slight differ-
ences by the Nass, Hailtzas, and Sebassas, who dwell
around Observatory Inlet, Millbank Sound, and the
islands of Pitt Archipelago, respectively. Harsh sounds
and gutturals predominate.’ The personal pronouns are,
—nookwa, 1; cusho, thou; nesho, mine; cusho, thine; nook-
wintoh: we; kycusko, ye; caigh qua, he; elee caigh qua, they.”

8 Il., pp. 669-607,

9 Green, in Amer, Antiq, Soc., Transact, vol. ii., p. 202. ‘Nass... in
custom and lnnguage, resemble the Snabnssa,’ Dunn's Oregon, p. 279.

Buschnvinn, Spr. N, Mex,, u. der Westseite des b, Nordamer., }). 398, et seq.
10 Svouler, in Lond, Geog, Soc., Jour., vol ix., p. 294.

1, wife
her is
jéganet,
ses are
hy two
n men-
; hitd,
clined,
er; hall
ve thee
ll deer;
uns are
fantives
ye case.
1, thou.
t, mine,
|: person
ng may
hungry,
hungry,
you are
hiittung.

part are
or four,
erlutin-

t differ-
0 dwell
nd the
sounds
uns are,

BELLACOOLA AND CHIMSYAN. 607

Dunn gives a few sentences, which I insert as speci-
mens: whealey lowels kussii, where are you going?
howmithlem spooguialla iltsouk, do you understand our
language? dowels, cah cunter cah millah, go shoot deer."

In the immediate vicinity of the Nass are two other
languages, the Bellacoola and Chimsyan, of which hardly
anything is known. Tolmie supposes the Chimsyan to
be related to the Tacully language, but Buschmann, on
comparing the vocabularies, could not find the affinity.
The Rev. Mr Good informs me that the Chimsyan
tongue extends inland as far as Fraser and Stuart
Lake.” Compare the following words:

BELLACOOLA. CHIMSYAN.
I untsh newyo
Thou eno noone
Mine untshil nawhawae
We unshto neuhami
Ye enooh neumi
He teechtil taigh qua
They teech til tin no mo taight queet
Man tlimsdah tzib
Woman chinash unaach
Knife teech tah ilth-a-peesh
Water kull ah use
Stone quils tolomick loap
Sun skin nuch kium uk
Moon tlooki kium ugum aat uk
Good teeah fam
Bad ushee atuchk ,

The Hailtzas and the Bellacoolas have the following
words in common ;—watz, dog; poe, halibut; tah, black
bear; nun, grizzly bear.”

On Vancouver Island a multitude of dialects are spok-
en, and various and contradictory classifications have
been made, none of which, in my opinion, are correct.
From the evidence, dialetic diversity prevails to such an
extent that almost every petty tribe has its idiom; so
that, even if affinities do exist, sufficient to justify
& classification into languages and dialects, so meagre
is our knowledge that it is impossible in many instances
to say which are languages and which dialects. Hence

1 Dunn's Greno pe 868,
12 Scouler, in Lond, Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. ix., p. 221,
13 Id, p. 280, et seq,

608 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

in my classification I cannot do better than to make of
the Nootka one language, and give a list of the dialects
on the island, with all the information concerning them
at my command. Four languages of the island,—the
Quackoll in the north, the Cowichin on the east, the
Clallam at the south, and the Makah on the west, are
said to be “totally distinct from each other, both in
sound, formation, and modes of expression.” The one
last mentioned is said to bear some affinity to the lan-
guage spoken at the mouth of the Columbia River,* and
is called by Sproat the Aht language, for which he
claims in like manner that it “can be traced through
all the tribes on the ocean coast, as far south as the
mouth of the Columbia.” The Comux, which people he
locates cn the east coast between the Cowichins and
Quackolls, migrated thither, he says, from the main
land, and the tribes ‘do not readily understand one
another’s language;” from all of which we may infer
that in reality there is only one language, of which
these four are the chief dialects.” Yet this is partially
contradicted by Grant, who affirms that the Cowichins
and Clallams can communicate with each other, though
not very easily, but that the Makahs and Quackolls can-
not converse with each other or with any of the other
nations."* Another authority, who certainly ought to be
entitled to an opinion, having been a captive among
these nations for some years, also intimates that in re-
ality there was only one language dominant on the
island. After enumerating the different tribes he con-
cludes; ‘‘all of whom speak the same language. Rut
the Newchemass who come from a great way Northward,
and from some distance inland, speak quite a different
language, although it is well understood by those of
Nootka,”

14 Grant's Vane. Ist., in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., pp. 295-6.

15 Sproat’s Scenes, p: 811,

16 Grant's Vane. Ist., in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxvii., p. 295.

17 ‘The inhabitants of Nootka Sound and the Tlaoquatch, who occupy the
south-western points of the island, speak the same language.’ Scouler, in
Lond. Geog, Soc., Jour., vol. xi., p, 224; Jewitt’s Nar., pp, 74-77; Hal.'s

LANGUAGES OF VANCOUVER ISLAND. 609

National differences appear to consist more in pro-
nunciation than in grammatical construction. Thus
the articulation of the Klaizzahts is hoarser and more
guttural than that of the people of Nootka Sound.”
Dialectic differences sometimes go so far that the several
bands of the same tribe find difficulty in making
themselves understood; as for instance the Nitinaht
tribes when conversing with one another, have fre-
quently to repeat their sentences differently accented to
make them intelligible. The chief peculiarity of the
Nitinaht dialect is the transmutation of the letters m
and n, which are in universal use throughout the island,
for which it substitutes } and d. Thus for mamook, to
work, the Nitinahts say baboik; nismah, country, they
pronounce dissibach, and so on.”

As compared with that of the Thlinkeets, the Nootka
language is neither harsh nor disagreeable. Its most
curious feature is the predominance of labials and dentals
over gutturals. The Nootkas possess fine oratorical
powers, lending assistance to their words by shaking
their head, gesticulating forcibly, and even jumping at
each other. A singular sound, and one which it is
hardly possible to express by any combination of letters,
happens in many of their words. Spreading the corners
of the mouth to their widest extent, and raising the
point of the tongue against the palate, they expel the
aiv from the sides of the mouth, at the same time bring-
Eiinog., in U.S, Ea. Ew., vol. vi., p. 220; Meares’ Voy., pp. 229-32; Douglas’
Report, in Lond, Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxiv., p. 246. At Point Discovery,
Vancouver met people some of whom ‘understcod a few words of the Noot-
9 language.’ Voyage, vol.i., p. 228. ‘The distinct languages spoken by the
’ \dians are few in number, but the dialects employed by the various tribes are
»~ Many, that, although the inhabitants of any particular district have no
great difficulty in communicating with each other,....’ Magme’s B.C., p. 244;
Sproat’s Svenes, p. 311. The Rev. Mr Good divides and loca.es the languages
of Vancouver Island and the ot apo shore on the mainland, as ful'!ows. The
first language, he says, rons along the coast from Nitinaht to Nootks Sound;
the second prevails from Sooke to Nanaimo, and across the Sound up to
Bird Inlet on the main land, thence following up the Fraser River as fur ae,
Yale; this he names the Cowichin. On the isJand north of Cowichin he
locates the Comux and adjoining it the Ucleta; finally starting at Fort
Rupert and following the north coast ..f the island and also on the opposite
shore of the main land is the Quackoll.

18 Jewitt's Nar., p. 75.

19 Sproat’: Svenes, p. 132.
P Vou, I, yor

610 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

ing the tongue down strongly, which obviously produces
a sound altogether foreign to the English vocabulary.
Captain Cook says of this sound, “it is formed, in a
particular manner, by clashing the tongue partly against
the roof of the mouth, with considerable force; and may
be compared to a very coarse or harsh method of lisp-
ing,” and he attempts to give the sound by the letters
lsa@hl. Many words end with this sound, and also with
a Ul, 2, or 88;—as opulszthi, sun; onulszthl, moon; kahsheetl,
dead; teeshcheetl, to throw a stone; kooomitz, a human
skull; guahmiss, fish-roe. Captain Cook further remarks
upon their language that it ‘can only be inferred, from
their method of speaking, which is very slow and dis-
tinct, that it has few prepositions or conjunctions; and, as
far as we could discover, is destitute of even a single in-
terjection, to express admiration or surprize.””
Furthermore, I may add, there is no case, nor gender,
nor tense, and number is expressed only in the personal
pronoun and in the inflection of verbs. In the first
persons singular and plural, verbs end in @ or mah; in
the second persons, huk or ayts; and in the third
persons, in mah, win, or utlma. Sometimes these
endings go over to the adverb which accompanies
the verb, and they are subject to phonetic rules,
according to which syllables are sometimes changed or
left out altogether. We have wik, not; and kumotop, to
understand; wikahkumotop or wimmutomah, I do
not understand; the latter mode being a change for
the sake of euphony. Plurals, and particularly fre-
quentative plurals, are expressed by duplication: as
mahte or mahs, house; mahtmahs, all the houses. Dif-
ferent classes of words appear to have different terminals:
for example, instruments end with ih,—hukkaik, a
knife; hissik, a saw. Colors end in wk or ook,—eyyoh-
20‘ FE] idioma de estos naturales es tal vez el mns fspero y duro de los cono-
cidos. Abundan mucho en ¢l ns consonantes, y las terminaciones en tl y tz,
constando el intermedio y el principio de los vocablos de aspiraciones my
fuertes.’ Sulil y Mexicana, Viage, p. 147. ‘Their language is very guttural,
and if it were possible to reduce it to our orthography, it would very much

abound with consonants.’ Sparks’ Life of rd, p. 72; Cuok's Voy. to
Pac., vol. ii., pp. 334-8, wi " i

produces
wbulary.
ed, in a
y against
and may
of lisp-
e letters
ulso with
kahsheetl,
n human
remarks
red, from
and dis-
8; and, as
single in-

r gender,
» personal
the first
mah; in
he third
es these

ompanies
ic rules,
anged or
ntop, to
}, 1 do
ange for
larly fre-
ation: as
es. Dif-
lerminals:
kkaik, 1
,—eyyor-

de Jos cono-
hes en fl y tz,
41ciones m Wy
ry guttur

l very much
ok's Voy. to

NANAIMO COMMANDMENTS. 611

quk, green; kistokkuk, blue; Mayhook, purple; Meesook,
white; toopkook, black. Hissit, red, forms an exception.
Trees and plants end in pl,—kowwhipt, seewhipt, ootsmupt,
Makkupt, etc. Verbs end in shitl, sheil, and chil, although
some exceptions occur. Another distinctive ending is
up,—chdtayup, to cut off with a knife; kddsup, to
hurt or wound ; hyyusatyup, to diminish ; ashsup, t to break
a string or cord; quoyup, to break a stick, etc.” As a
specimen of the language, I give the first three of the
Ten Commandments, and the Lord’s Prayer, in the
dialect of the Nanaimos.”

NUTSA.

Owa tonowa quinet ta eesaila tseetsel seeam, ohi tanca
tseetsel seeam.

EESAILA.

Owa tanowa seeise ta seeathl sta ta stem nay quo
tseetsel, sta ta stem aitna tomuck, e sta ta stem nay ta
ka, kokoo taswa tseetsel seeam owa tanowa cappausom e
stayweeil ta sta, ohi tanca tseetsel seeam. Towhat oyas
kullstuck, tanca ouseete tanca quaquat e towhat ighstuck
tanca e oyas shatlm tanswan squell oseete tanca igh
lalamat.

TLEEUGH.

Owa tanowa heewaulim ta squish quo tseetsel seeam
oseete tseetsel seeam quaquasaum towhat oyas sta.

TA KALHEM TA JESUKIT.

Saulth man nay quo tseetsel igh telneemelth oyas
stlay stuck ta statsn squish. Tel-neemelth ohi stlay
tanowa sthee seeam nay toumuck tomuck. Igh taswa
mestiu shatlm ta squell aitna tomuck sta ta tseetsel
mestiu. ‘Tana quial e muck squial mistook ta saulth
saulthan. Igh tanowa nahi tataeuk whawa telneemelth
e ta saulth kull squiaxits sta telneemelth nahi tataeuk

1 Sproat's Scenes, p. 124, e
rt or a ony of which I ‘Se im indebted to Mr J. H. Carmany of the
Overland Mont

612 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

whunem toumuck mestiu kull squiaxits whawa telnee-
melth. Igh telneemelth owanam ethlkalth ta kull, igh
tanowa awistuck etha igh. Ohi tanowa oonans sthee
seeam, tanowa ohi sthee quamqum telneemelth ohi cap-
pausom high quo tanowa oyas oyas. Amen.

From certain interpretations placed upon the ancient
Aztec manuscripts, it was by some inferred that the origin
of that people must be sought in the north; hence
speculative philologists have, from time to time, discov-
ered many fancied resemblances between the language of
the aboriginal Mexicans and those of various northern
nations. Thus, in the speech of the Nootkas, a dis-
tinct phonetic resemblance, and the frequent occurrence
of the ending ¢ were sufficient evidence to Vater and
others that a relationship exists between the Aztecs and
the Nootkas. Prescott, following his predecessors, fell
into the same error. Humboldt, although struck with the
similarities mentioned, yet pronounced them different
tongues,” while Buschmann, who has examined the sub-
ject more than all others combined, denies all such
relationship.”

Coming over to the main land we find, for the most
part, in each of the many inlets and canals a separate
language. Between these languages, from perpetual inter-
tribal intercourse, it is impossible to determine, in some

% ‘En examinant avec soin des vocabulaires formés & Noutka et 4 Mon-
terey, j’ai été frappé de l’homotonie st des dtsinences mexicaines de plu-
sieurs mots, comme, par exemple, dans la langue des Noutkiens. .. .Cependant,
en général, les langues de la Nouvelle-Californie et de l’ile de Quadra,
différent essentiellement de l’aztéque.’ Humboldt, Essai. Pol., tom. i., p.
821. ‘Sprachihnlichkeiten....hat man, wie auch nachher bey der Betrach-
tung der Mexikanischen Sprache aus einander gesetzt werden soll, an dieser
Nordwest-Kiiste am Nutka-Sunde und bey den Vélkern in der Niihe der
Russischen Colonien gefunden.’ Vater, Mithrid..tes, tom. iii., pt iii., p. 76.
‘In the neighborhood of Nootka, tribes still exist whose dialects, both in the
termination and general sound of the words, bear considerable resemblance
to the Mexican.’ Prescott's Mex., vol. iii., p. 399.

*% ‘80 gewinnt die Nutka-Sprache, durch eine reiche Zahl von Wértern
und durch grosse Ziige ihres Lautwesens, einzig vor allen anderen fremden
....dn einem bedeutenden Theile eine tiuschende Ahnlichkeit mit der azte-
kischen oder mexicanischen; und so wird die ihr schon friher gewidmete
Aufmerksamkeit vollstindig gerechtfertigt. Ihrer mexicanishen Erscheinung
fehlt aber, wie ich von meiner Seite hier ausspreche, jede Wirklichkeit.’
Buschmann, Spr, N. Mex. u. der Westkiste des b. Nordamer., p, 371.

telnee-
cull, igh
is _sthee
ohi cap-

. ancient
he origin
1; hence
, discov-
guage of
northern
s, a dis-
currence
ater and
ztecs and
sors, fell
with the
different
| the sub-
all such

the most
separate
al inter-
, in some

t iii., p. 76.
both in the
esemblance

gewidmete
racheinung

LANGUAGES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA. 613

instances, what relationship, if any, exists. Several of
the languages of the island we find also on the main land
adjacent. The Clallams are found on both sides of Juan
de Fuca Straits; and nearly related to the Cowichins,
who are found as well on the main land near the mouth
of Fraser River as on the island, are the Noosdalums of
Hood Canal, one language being but a dialect of the
other.

Respecting the languages spoken in the interior of
British Columbia, the Rev. Mr Good, who has spent
fifteen years among the inland nations, and who is fully
conversant with their languages, gives me the fol-
lowing information: From Yale to Lilloet, on the
Fraser River, thence from Bonaparte to Nicola River,
the Neetlakapamuch, or Thompson River, language
is spoken. From Douglas, along the Harrison River
and lake, to its confluence with the Fraser, as far
as Chilicothe, and again from Lillooet northward to
Clinton, the Stlatelemuck, or Lillooet, language prevails.
Next, from Bonaparte River northward to William Lake,
to Shushwap Lake, around Lake Kamloops, and for some
distance on the Thompson River, the Suwapamuck, or
Shushwap, tongue prevails; and finally, from Nicola Lake
to Kamloops, and southward as far as Columbia River, the
Chitwout, or Similkameen, language is used. Mr Good
further asserts that, although there are four distinct
languages, they are nevertheless in some degree affiliated.
From the same gentleman, I also obtained the following
grammatical notes and specimens of the Neetlakepamuch
tongue. Personal pronouns are,—I, ens; thou, awee;
he, cheneelt; we, mnemeemult; you, aweepeeaps; they,
chinkoast.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO GIVE.

PRESENT INDICATIVE.

We give, nemeemult nahktam
You give, aweepeeaps nahktattose
They give, chinkvast nahkteeiks

I give, ens nahktinna
Thou givest, awee nahktatta
He gives, cheneelt nahktass

IMPERFECT.
I gave, huinahktlam

614 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

FIRST FUTURE,
I shall give, huinahkchin
IMPERATIVE.
Give me, nahkchams | Give us, nabkteea
Mamans inserted in a word, signifies a desire to do a
thing; thus, winaskin means to go; and winasmamankin,
I am wishing to go. The syllable weltin, affixed to a
word, expresses that a thing has been done effectively ;—
lokhtinnaweltin, I have fastened it well, or thoroughly.
Tata is a negative preposition.

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

Takamote mnemeemult skatzazact whohakn nil
Our Father who art in

kakhtomew. Axseeas chutam clas squest awee. Hyah
heaven. Good tobe done the name thine. Good

huntohs stakums asait cunamah axclahaks swonakum
make haste all men come truly
eah tuksmite Jesu Cree huntoseamal. Awee kaseah
good childrenof Jesus Christ make haste. Thy will
eah ah chuwo naanatomew, oleh seeatahah L’ angels
good done on earth, the angels
archkhwamo_ incheah cheekbone. Takamose nuk
do there heaven. All and
stakum a tseetlekut nahkteea nemeemult stakums as
every day give us all our
skhlayans. Altla quonquonstyea nemeenult takamote
food. And forgive us all
nemeemult outkest, tseeah nyeresaiitlt quonquonstama
our evil, as forgive

takamote tooal saitcunama aks siuaphsiWhead tekest whoa
all of men who accomplish anyevil to

nemeemult. Atahmose tah hoshaman as _ masteel
us. Never let the evil one lead

nemeemult axkhokestumtum a quonteese akest. Kamult
us to wish to lay hold of any evil. But

akklokpistyip nemeemult takamote too a kest wilkakow.

deliver all that is evil far from us.

Picsieaeianinean: tains atomew. Shutenmeenwa-
hine all the world. Thine

to do a
mankin,
ed to a
ively ;—
roughly.

kn nil
rt in
Eyah
Bed
vonakum
truly
2 kaseah
will
L’ angels

angels

PUGET SOUND DIALECTS. 615

wee takamose azozoht. Shutenmeenwawee takamone
all strength. Thine

asyameet. Taeah asklakameemus pci
worship. Good evermore to come,

asklakameemus astinansouse. Axseahs.
evermore to come. Amen.

Proceeding southward to Puget Sound, we have
the Shimiahmoo, Nooksak, Lummi, Samish, Snohomish,
and others; and around Cape Flattery, the Classet.
The Makah, Classet, or Klaizzaht, I have spoken of
already, in connection with the language of Vancouver
Island, and it also appears that the Clallam, S’klalum,
or as they call themselves, Nusklaiyum, is also connected
with the Vancouver Island language.” It is probably
the same which Dr Scouler has called the Noosdalum.
The J.ummi, or Nukhlumi, and the Shimiahmoo have
also sume affinity with the Sanetch dialect of Vancouver
Island, and the languages of the Skagits and Samish
approach that of the Nisquallies. Yet while the Clallam
and Lummi show certain affinities to the Nootka dialect,
they nevertheless clearly belong to the Salish, or Flat-
head family.”

We now come to the great interior Salish family,
although I shall have occasion again to refer to the coast
language in this vicinity. The northernmost Salish
language is the Shushwap, or Atnah, which approaches
near to its neighbor the Salish proper;*’ then there are
the Kullespelm, or Pend d’Oreille, the Spokane, the

% They spoke the sume language as the Nootkas. Vancouver's Voy.,
218

vol. ay
The af affinities of the Clallam and Lummi are too obvious to require
détecugeson Gibbs’ Clallam and Lummi Vocab., p. vii. ‘The Tsihuaili-

Selish languages reach the sea in the part Spposite Vancouver's Island. Per-
haps they touch it to the north also.’ Latham’s Comp. Phil., vol. viii., p.
401; Gairdner, in Lond, Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi.,

2 ‘Les Indiens de Ja céte ou de la Nouvelle Calé donie, les Tokalis, les
Chargeurs (Carriers), les gg ade les Atnas appartiennent tous & la
nation des Chipeouafans.’ Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 337. ‘The Atnah
language has no affinity to any with which Iam acquainted,’ Mackenzie's
Voyages, p. -58.

616 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

Soaiatlpi, and the Okanagan, which with others spoken on
the Columbia show close affinities.

The Salish proper, or Flathead, is harsh and guttural.
The letters 6, d, f, 7,v, do not exist in this language. The
plural of substantives is formed in different ways: first,
by duplicating the root—skoi, mother; skoikoi, mothers:
second by duplicating and dropping a vowel from the
root—skaltmigu, man ; sklkaltmigu, men ; esmdck, mountain ;
esmdkmck, mountains: third, by duplicating a consonant
in the middle of the word—skdlchemis, eyelid ; skilcham-
mus, eyelids: fourth, by prefixing the syllable u/—nackoe-
men, thief; wnakoémen, thieves: and lastly there are
divers formations, as es’schéte, tree; szlzlil, trees, forest;
s'm’ém, woman (mulier) ; pélplgui, women. Diminutives
are expressed by placing 7 before the root, as, s’m’ém,
woman ; slm’ém, small woman; Jk, wood; Wid’lk, a small
piece of wood. Augmentatives are formed by prefixing
the syllable Autn, or kuti, when the word commences
withan sor /, thus, skagae, horse ; kuti-skagae, a great horse;
sm'ot, smoke; kuti-sm'ot, a great smoke. There are pro-
nouns, personal, possessive, demonstrative, relative, in-
terrogative, and indefinite. According to Mengarini the
personal pronoun has two forms, absolute and copulative,
the exact meaning attached to these terms no‘ being ex-

ABSOLUTE, COPULATIVE.

koie ko

anii ku

znilz

kaémpile kae

mpilépstemp p, or mp

zni’i

As examples of the others there are possessives,—mine,

in; thine, an; his,—s; ours, kao; yours,—mp; theirs,—s:
demonstratives,—this, 12; that, 21: interrogative,—who,
suet: and indefinite,—some one, chndksi.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE ANGRY.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I am angry, tnes aimt-i We are angry, kaes aimt-i
Thou art angry, kues aimt-i You are angry, pes simt-i
He is angry, es aimt-i Thoy are angry, es afimt-i

en on

tural.

The
: first,
thers:
m the
ntain;
sonant
Icham-
vackoe-

re are
forest ;
nutives
s'm’ em,

" small

ulative,
ing ex-

SALISH DIALECTS.

PERFECT.
Thave been angry, _—tn-aimt or tnes aimt

FIRST FUTURE.
I shall be angry, nem tn aimt

IMPERATIVE.
Be angry, aimt sch

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE..
If I be angry, tikes aimt-i If we be angry, kaeks afmt-i
Ifthou be angry, kuks aimt-i If you be angry, ks aimt-i
e be angry, ks aimt-i If they be angry, 8 afimt-i

IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE,
IfI were angry, k neu tn aimt

OPTATIVE,
If I might be angry, komi tn aimt

Following is a Lord’s Prayer, the nationality not
given:
Kae leu I’s'’chichmdskat u ku I’zii, asku est kuks

Our father in heaven who liveth, thy name of thee

gamenchltm; ku kl ci:“Itich s esid sp’us; aszntéls ks
be loved; thou be Lord of all Heatte: thy will

kélli id 1 stdéligu, ezgail I’s'chichmdskat. Kae guizlilt
be done this on earth, as in heaven. Us give to-day

ié tlgoa lu kaesiapzinm. Kaelkolgoéllilt lu kae gulguiflt

what we need. Us forgive our debts,
egal lu tkaempilé kaes kolgoelltm, lu e épl gulguilt 1
we forgive (those) who have debts with

Masini ‘0. Kae olkschililt ta ka keskuéstm lu ttie; u kai

us. Us assist not atany time receive evil; but us

gulguillilt lu tel teié. Komi ezgail.

preserve uninjured from evil. Be it so.%

The above is taken from the grammar of Mengarini,
written in Latin; following is a Lord’s Prayer of the
Pend d’Oreilles, from Father De Smet, who wrote in
French :

Kyleeyou, Itchitchemask, askwees kowaaskshamen-
Our father of heaven, that your name be respected

shem ailetzemilkou yectany %; ntziezie telletzia spoo
by all the earth; reign in all the

oez, Assinteels astskole, yelstoloegz _etungeel
hearts. That your will be done on earth as alsu

% Mengarini, Selish Gram.

618 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

Itch.ichemask. Hoogwitzilt yettilgwa lokaitssia petzim.

in heaven. Give us now ai} our necessaries.
Knwaasksmeemil'em klotayie kloitskeyen etzageel
Forgive us the evil which we havedone, as
kaitsskolgwelem klotoiye kloitskwen klielskyloog.
we forgive (the evil) to those who _—ius_ have offended.
Koaxalock shitem takaakskwentem kiotaiye;
Accord to us assistance to evade evil;
kowaaksgweeltem klotaiye. Komieetzegeel.
but aciiver us from eval. So be it.

Also belonging to this family are the languages spoken
by the Skitsuish, Pisquouse, Nsietshaws, Nisquallies, and
Chehalis, The Nsietshaw differs more than the others
from the Salish proper, which is the stock language of
this family, and particularly in not possessing any
labials; the letters m and 5 being changed to w, and p
toh. Thus, in the Chehalis and Nisqually languages,
we have, numan, son; tomokh, earth; pansototsi, winter;
which, in the Nsietshaw, are pronounced respectively,
nuwon, tawekh and hansototsi. The Chehalis is spoken in
three dialects, the Chehalis proper, the Quaiantl, and the
Queniauitl.”

The languages of the Salish Family, particularly that
of. the Chehalis, are rich in words, by means of which

% ‘Nationes que radicaliter linguam Selicam loquuntur sunt saltem
decem: peer ag (vulgo) Pends d'orcilles du Lac Inférieur, Sikatxomlchi,
Pends d'oreilles du Lac Superieur. Selish, Tétes Plattes. eaigounioe
Snpoilschi, Szk’eszilni, Spokanes, S’chizni, Cours d’aléne. goielpi,
Chaudiéres. Okinakein, Stlakam Okanagan.’ Afengarini, Selish (/ram., p. 120.
‘Their language is the same as the Spokeins’ and Flathesds’.’ Parker's
Explor. Tour, p. 307. ‘The Spokanes speak the same dialect as the Fiat-
heads and Pend d’Oreilles.’ Chapman, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1866, p: 201; De
Smet, Voy., p. 237. ‘The Flatheads are divided into numerous tribes, each
having its own rcculiar locality, and differing more or less from the others
in language, cv.stoms, and manners.’ ‘The Spokan Indians are a small
tribe, differing very little from the Indians at Colville either in their a

arance, habits, or language.’ Kane's Wand., pp. 173, 307. ‘The Pend’
*Oreilles are generally called the Flatheads, the two clans, in fact, being
united... . Still, the two races are entirely distinct, their languages being fun-
damentally different. The variety of tungues on the west sice of the (Rocky)
mountains is almost infinite, so that scarcely any two tribes understand each
other perfectly. They have all, however, the common character of being
very guttural; and, in fact, the sentences often appear to be mere jumbles
of grunts and croaks, such as no alphabet could exp:ess in writing.’ Simp-
son's Overland Jour., vol, i., P 146, \
30 Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ew. Ee., vol. vi., pp. 635-7,

. SALISH LANGUAGES. 619

everything coming within their knowledge may find
expression; they are not easily acquired by strangers;
it is difficult for the different nations and tribes to make
themselves understood to one another. This is owing
principally to the many localisms in vogue among them,
of which there is a good specimen in the Chehalis lan-
guage. Thus, tolnewch means west-wind, off shore, to-
ward the sea, or to the west. Now, if the Chehalis are
leaving the shore in a canoe, and one of them wants to
tell his mate to put her head off shore, he will say
tolneuch, but if in a hurry, neuch neuch. Claathlum sig-
nifies east-wind, also ashore; this they transpose into
elath clath" The Clallum and Lummi languages have

. another peculiarity, which is a certain nasal sound at

the commencement and ending of words like a strong
nasal ns; also a broad a sound as in far, path. The
sounds of the letters v, r, 2, are wanting.” The fre-
quently occurring ending ¢ has also led to speculation,
and to a search for Aztec affinities among these lan-
guages, but nothing except this phonetic similarity has
been discovered. This ¢/ ending is verycommon. Swan
says that, ‘sometimes they will, as if for amusement,
end all their words with W@; and the effect is ludicrous
to hear three or four talking at the same time, with this
singular sound, like so many sitting hens.” Last of
the Salish, the Kitunaha, Kootenai, or Coutanie language
is spoken. Authorities differ widely in describing this
language. Parker calls it “open and sonorous, and free
from gutturals, which are common in the language of the
surrounding tribes;” while Capt. Palliser affirms that it
is ‘“‘ most guttural and unpronounceable by a European,
every word appearing to be brought from their lowest

31 Swan's N. W. Coast, p. 315.

38 Gibbs’ Clallam and Lummi Voeab., p. 7.

33 ‘In the northern districts of the great chain of Rocky Monntains
which were visited by Sir Alexander Mackenzie, there are several uations of
unknown language and origin, The Atnah nation is one of them. Their dia-
lect appears, from the short vocabulary given by that traveller, to be one of

those languages which, in the frequent recurrence of peouliar consonants,
Denrs a certain resemblance to the Mexican.’ Prichard’s Nat. Hist. Man,
vol. ii., p. 5650; Swan's N, W. Coast, pp, 315-6,

‘620 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

extremities with difficulty."“ The following Lord’s
Prayer, taken by a Frenchman will give s better idea of
the language than any description:
Katitoe naitle naite, akiklenais zedabitskinne
Our father, whoart in heaven, inay thy name be great

wilkane. Ninshalinne oshemake kapaik akaitlainam.
and honored. Be thou the master of all hearts.

Inshazetluité younosmake yekakaekinaitte.
May thy will done on earth as it is in heaver.

Komnakaike logenie niggenawaishne naiosaem miaitéke.
Grant us this day all our wants.

Kekepaime nekoetjexoetleaitle ixzeai, iyakaikakaaike

Forgive us all the evil we have done, as we forgive
iyazeaikinawash kokakipaimenaitle. |Amatikezawes
all the evil done unto us, Strengthen us
itchkestshimmekakkowélle akatakzen. §§ Shaeykia-
against all evil, and deliver us from it. May it
kakaaike.
be so.35

The languages tf the Sahaptin family are spoken
along the Lewis and Snake Rivers and their tributaries,
as far as the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The Walla
Walla, Palouse, Yakima, Kliketat, and Sahaptin
proper, some of them widely divergent from the mother
tongue, are of this family.” The Walla Walla differs

% ‘Der Prinz bezeugt (Bd. ii, 511) dass der behauptete Mangel an Gur-
gellauten ein Irrthum ist; er bemerkt: dass die Sprache durch den ihr eignen
** Zungen-schnaly”’ fiir das Aussprechen schwierig werde, und dass sie eine
Menge von Gutturalténen habe. Man spreche die Worter leise und
undentlich aus; dabei gebe es darin viele schnalzende Téne, indem man
mit der Zungenspitze anstésst; auch gebe es darin viele dumpfe Kehllaute.’
Prince Maz zu Wied, in Busvhmann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr., p. 661. ‘ Their
language bears no affinity whatever to that of any of the western nations.
It is infinitely softer and more free from those unpronouncenable gutturals
80 common among the lower tribes.’ Cow's Adven., p. 233; Blakiston's Rept.,
in Palliser's Explor., p. 73; Parker's Explor. Tour, p. 307,

35 De Smet’s Oregon Miss., P. 409.

% Tribes speaking the Kliketat language: Whulwhypum, Tait-inapum,
Yakima, Walla Mebagen ath oose, Umatilla, Peloose, Wyampam; the Yaki-
mas and Kliketats or Whulwhypum....speaking the Walla-Walla language,
otherwise known as the Kliketat. Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 244, 232 the
Kyeuse resemble the Walla-Wallas very much .,.Their iangua and customs
are almost identical,’ Kane's Wand., p. 280. The Pend d'Oreilles ‘speak
the same language’ (Nez Percé.) Hutchins, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1863, p. 456,
The Palouse ane ‘speak the same language.’ Cain, in Id., 1860, p. 210.

poken
taries,
Walla
1aptin

other
Hiffers

alba
eignen
sie eine
ise und
m man
hilaute.’
‘Their
nations.
tturals
8 Rept.,

napum,
e Yaki-

a

M oak
p. 456
p 210.

SAHAPTIN LANGUAGES,

from the Sahaptin proper not more than the Portuguese
from the Spanish. Father Pandosy made a grammar
of the Yakima language, under which he ranges the
whole Sahaptin family, dividing it into dialects, as the
Walla Walla, the Tairtla, the Roilroilpam, or Kliketat,

and the Palouse.”

In the Nez Percé language, the following letters only
are found: h, k, 1, m, n, p, 8, t, w, a, e, i, 0, u, but the
missionaries having introduced some new words, it was
found necessary to add 6, d, f, 9, v, z Agglutination is
carried to = great length, and long words are very fre-
quent. 1n fact, wherever a sentence can be expressed
by joining one word to another, it is done, leaving out
letters in places, for the sake of euphony. The following
is a fair illustration: Aitauualawihnankauna, he traveled
past in a rainy night. Analysed, hi expresses the third
person singular; ¢au, a thing done at; night; tuala, some-
thing done in the rain; wihnan, to travel on foot;
kau is derived from the verb kokauna, to pass by;
na expresses the indicative mood, aorist tense, direc-
tion from the speaker. The plural of substantives is
formed by duplicating the first syllable: pitin, girl;
pipitin, girls. Or when the word commences with a
vowel, the vowel is sometimes repeated: atwai, old
woman; autwai, old women. Exceptions to this rule
are made in words expressing family relations, the prefix
ma being employed in such cases, as pika, mother;
pikama, mothers, If p terminates the word, it is
omitted, as askap, plural askama. To express gender,
the words hama, male, and aiat, female, are employed,
The Walla Wallaie ioe te Panes Aigo so oy ee ides,
i ay aga iy Sapte npemaye be rate he eH i
Ex., vol. vi., Ei 213, B42, ‘The Ps Bag among which we now are call them-
selves Sokulks; and with them are united afew of another nation, who reside
on a western branch, emptying itself into the Columbia a few miles above the
mouth of the latter river, and whose name is Chimnapum, The lan huage
of both these nations differs but little from each other, or from that o

Chopunnish who inhabit the Kooskooskee and Lewis's river.’ Lewis and
Clarke's Trav., p. 12, ‘The language of the Walla-Wallos differs from tho
Explor, Tour, p. 137.

p.
31 Pandosy’s Yakama Lang,, p. po.

622 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

but the substantive remains unchanged. Nouns are
declined either by changing their terminals, or by
affixes:

Nom. a house init

Gen, of a house ininm
Acc. house inina

1st Dat. to or for a house initph

2d Dat. in on, or upon a house initpa
1st Abl. with a house initki

2d Abl. from a house initpkinih
3d Abl. for the purpose of a house _initain

Comparison,—tahs, good; tahs kanmakanm, better;
tahsni, best. Personal prounouns,—in, I; im, thou;
tpi, he, or she; nun, we; wma, ye; imma, they. Of the
verb numerous variations are made. They are divided
into three classes, neuter, active transitive, and active
intransitive. The two neuter verbs are wash, to be; and
wilsasha, to become. Active intransitive verbs cannot
be followed by any accusative.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

DIRECTION FROM, DIRECTION TOWARDS,

Iam, in wash

Thou art, im a wash im a wam

He is, it is his, ipi hiwash, ipnim ush ipi hiwam

We are, nun washih

You are, ima ath washih ima ath washinm

They are, itis theirs, imma hiushih, imman aushih imma hiushinm
RECENT PAST TENSE.

I have just been, waka wamka

Thou hast just been, a waka a wamko

He has jast been,

it has just been his, hiwaka, awaka hiwamka

We have just been, washeka washinmka

You have just been, ath washeka ath washinmka

They have just been,

it has just been theirs, kinsheka, ausheka hiushinmka %8

The following gramatical notes will serve to illustrate
the Yakima and some of the other languages of the Sa-
haptin family.

SINGULAR.

Nom. the horse kussi-nan
Gen. of the horse kussi-nmi
Dat. to the horse kussi-ow
Acc. the horse kussi-nan
Voe. O horse na-kussi
Abl. for the horse kussi-ei

%8 Hale's Ethnog., in U. 8. Ee. Ez., vol. vi., p. 642, et seq.

YAKIMA, WALLA WALLA, AND PALOUSE.

PLURAL.
the horses kussi-ma

of the horses kussi-ma mi

to the horses kussi-ma-miow
the horses kussi ma-man
O horses na-kussi-ma
for the horses kussi-ma-miei

In the Palouse and Walla Walla languages the affix
nan is changed into na. Personal pronouns,—I, ink, nes,
nesh, or sh; of me, enmi; tome, enmiow; me, inak; for me,
enme; we, namak, natés, nanam, aatés, or namtk; of us,
néémi; tous néémiow; us, némanak; for us, néémiei. The
Walla Wallas leaves off the & from the affix ak; thus,
instead of inak, me, they say ina, and instead of namak,

WALLA WALLA AND PALOUSE.

penk
pinmin
pinmiow
pinminnan
pinmiei
pma
pamin
pamiwk
pamanak
For them pamikaiei

In one dialect the terminal ak is changed into ei.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO HAVE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I have,

Thou hast,
He has,
We have,
You have,
They have,

PERFECT AND PLUPERFFCT.
T had, or have had, nesh wacha

I shall have,

As a specimen of agglutination there is the word
ipinashapatawtrahliktamawarsha, he himself makes night
disagreenbly tiresome long wait; that is, he keeps one

nesh wa, or wash nesh
mesh wa, or wash mesh
penk awa, or pinminuk awa
natesh wa, or wash natesh
matesh wa, or wash ma‘

pa wa, or pemink awa

FIRST FUTURE.
nesh wata

long waiting for him at night.

YAKIMA LORD'S PRAYER.

Neemi Psht, imk nam wamsh _ Roiemich-nik;
Our Father thou who art high on the side (heaven);

624 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

shir nam 'manak p’a t-maknani tarnei wanicht; shir
well thou they (indef.) should respect the name; well

ewianawitarnei emink miawarwit; shir nammanak pa
should arrive thy chieftainship; well thee they
twanenitarnei, ichinak techampa, tenma, prw
should follow here earth (on) inhabitants (the) will
amakwesrimmanak twanenishamsh roiemipama
thou as thyself they follow high of the (heaven)
tenma. Nemanak nim t-kwatak kwalissim maisr
inhabitants (the). Our(us) giveus food always to-morrow
maisr. Nemanak laknanim chélwitit: aateskwsri
to-morrow. Our (us) forget sins: us as
namak t’normaman laknénisha chélwitit anakwnkink
we others forget sins have by which
neémiow pa chelwitia. R-t-to anianim nemanak
us have offended. Strong make our (us)
temna; t-kraw krial. Nemanak eikrenkem chelwit-
heart; that it fall not. Us snatch bad from

knik. Ekws iwa neemi temna.
the side. So itis our heart.°9

The Nez Percés make use of two languages, one the
native language proper, or, as a European might say,
the court language, and the other a slave language, or
jargon. ‘They differ so much, that a stranger fully con-
versant with one cannot understand the other. This
jargon originated, probably, from intermixing prisoners
of war of different nationalities who were enslaved, and
their languages mingled with each other, and with that
that of their conquerors. The pure-blooded Nez Percés
all understand the jargon, learning it when children,
together with their own proper language. Nor is this
all. The jargon is more or less modified by each of the
several languages, or dialects, in which it is spoken. The
employés of the fur companies, who first came in con-
tact with the Sahaptins, were greatly annoyed by this
multiformity; as, for example, one Nez Percé coming
to sell a beaver skin would say, tammecess taxpool, I wish
to sell a beaver; another would say, towéeyou weespoose, I

39 Pandosy's Yakama Lang.

La = a oe eee ae

LN

COURT LANGUAGE OF THE SAHAPTINS. 625

wish to trade a beaver; and a third would say, e'towpa
e’'yeche, I wich to trade a beaver.

The following short vocabulary will show some of the
differences between the Nez Percé language and the
Jargon :

NEZ PERCE JARGON,
Man kewas winch
Woman eyatt tealacky
Boy tachnutsem tuchnoot
Girl tochanough peten
No waatown, taya
Knife waltz whapallmeh
Horse she came koosy
Hair tootanick kookoo
Eyes shelaw Atchass.@

Professor Rafinesque, out of twenty-four Sahaptin
words, claims to have found six bearing close affinities
to the English, but Buschmann says that of these,
twenty-four, many are not Sahaptin at all.’ The ™
Waiilatpu language, conterminous with the Sahaptin, is
spoken in two dialects, the Cayuse and Mollale. The
Cayuses mingle frequently with the Sahaptins, and there-
fore many words of the latter have been adopted into
their tongue. They mostly understand and speak the
Sahaptin, and frequently the Walla Walla, and this not
from any relationship in the several languages, but
from intercourse.

Like their neighbors, the Cayuses employ two lan-
guages; one in the transaction of the common affairs of
life, and the other on high state occasions, such as when
making speeches round the council fire, to determine
questions of war and peace, as well as all other inter-
tribal affairs. That is to say, the Sahaptins use their
court language on all ordinary, as well as extraordinary
occasions, keeping the jargon for their servants, while
the Cayuses employ the baser tongue for common, and
the higher for state occasions.

40 ee Fur Hunters, vol. i., p. 1 poten,
al Atlantic Jour quoted in Buschmann, Spuren der
Axteke ya 615. ‘Ich habe * Bose \ Worter Rafinesque’s zu einem Theil
ganz verac ‘eden von den ve m gefunden.’ Ib.

a Hale's Eihnog.. in U.S %., vol vi., p. 561,
OL

ee

oul OOLUMBIAN LANQUAGKS,

Tho Oayunes wore oloquont speakers; thelr language
abounded in elegant expressions, and they well know
how to mako tho most of it, When first known to
Huropeans, it was fiat fiding away, and subsequently
merged into the Sahaptin; so flocting are those native
idioma,”

The Chinook language is spoken by the different
tribow inhabiting the banks of the Lower Columbia and
adjasont country, ‘Thin family is divided into many
dialects, which diverge from the mother tongue as we
awoond the river; in fit, the uppor tribes have mont
to omploy an interpreter, when they communicate with
thom on the lower part of the river, The chief diversi-
tios of thin language are the Chinook proper, the Wakin-
kum, Oathlamet, and Clatsop, and the various dinleots
mentioned by Lowia and Clarke as belonging to thon in-
hubiting this region at the time of their expedition, but
which cannot now be positively identifled with any of
the languages known to ua, ‘Two of the last-mentioned
dialects, the Multnomah and the Skilloot, the explorers
doscribo ax belonging to the Chinook,“ Among all the
languages of north-western Amorica, oxcept fadhace that

© 'The Bkyuse have two distinot languages: the one used in ordinary
Intercourse, the other on extraordinary ooonsions; as in war counsels,
&o.' Marnham's Travels, p. 160, The Oayuses have abandoned thelr own
for that of the Nex Porvon,’ Gibbs, in Pao, RR, Rept, vol. i, pp. 416,
4u6. ‘Thole language beara some aMnity to the Mahaptin or NowPery
language.’ Ludwly'a Ab, Lang, p. 100; Coke's Rooky Ata, p 206; Kane's
Wand, p. 870, hele original language, now almont extinct. having
aMinity to that of the Oarrlem, of North Caledonta, and the Umpqua Indians
of Bouthern Oregon,’ Lord's Nat, vol. di, pp. a40-00,

4 The language of the bands farther up the river doparted more and
more widely from the Chinook proper, so that the lower ones vould not
have underatood the othors without an interpreter,’ Gibbw' Chinook Vooab.,,
p. 4 The vooabulary given by Dr, Seouler ae Chenook" tn almont alto-
other Chihalis, Hin Cathlaweon',,. is Chinook,’ fd, p.6, * Dow Tht
nooks, (oh oat wortio la langue-méro do cow nanvages,’ Salnt-Amant, Voy-

om, p. OMI, * Cathlamahe apeak the same language as the Ohinnooke and
Clataopa.’ Leola and Clarke's Travela, p, 484. Chinooks ‘in language, ...
rowamble the Clatwopa, Cathlamahe, and indeed all the people near the
mouth of the Columbia.’ fd, p, 486. ‘Tho Chinooks, Clatwopa, Wahkineume
and Cathlamahs,...resembled each othor in porion, drow, language.’
Irotng'a Astoria, pe. 8b, 930, =Chinooks, Olntaopa, Cathlamnux, Wakiouma,
Waoalamus, Cattlepution, Clatsountan, Kiliinux, Moltnoman, Chiokelin,....
resemble one another in language, Rosa Adven,, pp. 87-88, 'The Chi-
nook language ia wpokon by all the nations from the mouth of the Columbia
to the falla,’ Pyanchdre's Nar,, p. 262,

25 =. a |= «ee a se

ee Se ME et

DIVVIOUL/TING OF THK CHINOOK, ont

of the Thiinkeets, the Chinook is considered in its oon-

od atruotion the mont intricate; and in its pronunciation the
n to most difficult, No words are to be found in the Hnglish
ntly voonbulary which can accurately describe it, ‘lo may
tive that it in guttural, clucking, apluttoring, and the like

conveys but a faint conception of the sound produced
rent by # Ohinook in his frantio effort to unburden his mind
ene of an idea, — tle duos not appear to have: yet dincovered
any the use of the lips and tongue in spoaking, but struggles
a we with the lower part of the throat to produce sounds
ontl for the expression of his thoughts, Some declare that
with the apooah of the Thlinkeots, whore language like
sarals that of the Chinook contains no labials, is melody in
uline comparinon to the croukings of the Chinooks, — Rons anya
aloote that: ‘to om the Chinook dialect, you must be a Chi-
se ine nook,” Indeed, they appear to have become tired of
1 but their own language and to have voluntarily abandoned
ny of it, for, to-day, the youthful Chinook speaks almost
ioned wholly Chehalis and the jargon, Tho employdés of the

fur companics, voyageurs, trappers and traders, who
‘vere accumtomed to master with little diffleulty the abo-
riginal tongues which they encountered, were completely
nonpluased by the Chinook, A Canadian of Astor's
bedinary company is the only person known to have aequired
yunnels, it 40 aw to apoak it fluently, During a long illnes he

- ais, was nursed by the Chinooks, and during his convales-

wPor
| Kane's
Mav bing
Indians

lorers
ll the
4 that

© 'The Jangnage spoken Wy those poople ia guttural, very difficult for n
fovelat to learn, and equally hard to pronounce,’ Row’ Adven, p, 101,
'Dacidodly the most unpronounesable compound of gutturals over formed
for the communtoation of human thoughts, or the expression of human
wate,’ Cow's Adven,, vol. i, p. 198. 'T would willingly give a specimen of
the barbarous language of thlw poople, wore it possible to represent by an

combination of ow alphabet the horrible, harsh, spluttering sounds whic

proceed from tholr throats apparently anedte olthor by the tongue or Hp.’
Kane's Wand, p. 182, It de hard and diMoult to pronounce, for strangers;
bolng full of gutturala, like the Gaelic, The combinations (hl, or Ul, and Ut,
aro an frequent in the Chinook aa in the Mexican,’ Hranchére's Nar,, p, 262.
‘After the soft languages and rapid onunolation of the islanders, the Chi-
nooks presented a singular contrant in the slow, deliberate manner in which

we and
wld not
Vooah.,
wt nito-
a Teht-
nt, Voy:
rake and
ABO. «4.
ear tho
facuime
1inge,’

they seemed to choke out thelr words; fiving utterance to sounds, some of
rotten, which could scarcely be reprosonted by combinations of known letters,’
Me Plobering'a Races, in U, 8, Ka. Ke,, vol. ix., p. 23, ‘It abounds with get
ee turala and ‘ olucking’ sounds, almost as diffloult to analywe as to utter.’

(ilbba' Chinook Vocab., p. 5.

628 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

cense devoted his entire time to perfecting himself in
their tongue.“

Here the sounds of the letters f,1r, v, and 2 do not
exist, the pronunciation is generally very indistinct, and
¢and s, & and g, d and ¢, are almost always confounded.

In the first person of the dual and plural of pronouns,
the person present and addressed is either included or
excluded according to the form used.

Personal pronouns in the Watlala dialect are:

SINGULAR. DUAL. PLURAL.
I naika We (two) (exc.) nduaika We (ex.) netaika
We (two) (incl.) tkhaika We (incl.) olkhaika
Thou maika You (two) mdaika You menika
He iakhka They (two) igtakhka | They tkhlaitcka

' Of the possessive pronouns the following will serve as
examples. They are joined to the noun tukutkhk, or itu-
kwutkhle, house.

SINGULAR.

My house kukwnutkhl

Thy house meokwitkhl

His house iakwitkhl

DUAL. PLURAL.

Our house (exc.) ndakwitkhl ntcakwitkh! (exc.)
Our house (incl.) tkhakwitkhl olkhakwitkhl (incl.)
Your house mdakwitkhl meakwitkh]
Their house igtakwitkhl tkhlakwitkhl

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE COLD.
PRESENT INDICATIVE, SINGULAR,

Iam cold, naika tcinokhkeakh
Thou art cold, maika tcicomkeakh
He is cold, iakhka tcikeakh

DUAL,
We (two) are cold (exc.), ndaika tcicontkeakh
We (two) are cold (incl.), tkhaika tcictkeakh

You (two) are cold, mdaika tcimokeakh

They (two) are cold, ictakn*a tcictkeakh
PLURAL,

We are cold (exc.), ae Heenperenke

We are cold (incl.), olkhaika tcilokeakh

You are cold, meaika tcicomckeakh

They are cold, tkhlaitcka tcicotkhikeakh

« ‘The ancient Chenook is such a guttural, difficult tongue, that many
of the young Chenook Indians can not speak it, but have been taught by
their parents the Chehalis language and the Jargon.’ Swan's N. W. Coast, p.
806; Hale’s Ethnog., in U. 8S. Ex. He., vol. vi., p. 562. ‘The very difficult
pronunciation and excessively complicated form of the Chinook has effectu-
ally prevented ite acquisition, even by missionaries and fur traders.’ Gibbs’
Chinook Vocab., p. 5.

= ee

Oe s=S3 woe es:

CALAPOOYA PRONOUNS,

IMPERFECT.
Yesterday I was cold, takotkhl naika tcinotkeakh

FIRST FUTURE.
By and bye I shall be col cold, atkhike naika tciconkhatka
I shall be cold, naika onckhatka tci¢
THE VERB TO KILL.
I kill thee, aminowagua
I kill him, tcinowagua
T kill you (dual), omtkinowagua
I kill them (dual), re
I kill you (pl.), mcekinowagua
I kill them, otk Ikinowagua
You kill him, omckiwagua
You kill them, otkhikiwagua

Dialectic differences particularly among the upper
Chinooks, or Watlalas, are found principally in words;
grammatical forms being alike in both.” Kane remarks
as a peculiarity that this language contains ‘‘ no oaths,
or any words conveying gratitude or thanks.” @

Moving again southward to the Willamette Valley, I
find the Calapooya language, and for the first time a
soft and harmonious idiom. Although the guttural kA
sometimes occurs, it is more frequently softened to h.
The consonants are ¢, or 8, f,j, k,l, m, n, ng, p, or b, t, or d,
q, and w. Unlike the Sahaptin and Chinook there are
neither dual nor plural forms in the Calapooya lan-
guage.

The personal pronouns are:

I * tei, or tsii :

Thou maha, or maa
koka, or kak
soto

My father
Thy father maha kaham
father kok inifam
Our father soto tufam
Your father miti tifam
Their father kinuk inifam
My mother tai sinni
Thy mother maha kanni
His mother kok ininnim
Our mother soto tunnim
Your mother miti tinnim
Their mother kinuk ininnim

Hale's Ethnog., in U. i Ee, Ez,, vol., vi., p. 562, et seq.
48 Kane's We p. 183

680 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE SICK, ILFATIN.

PR .
I am sick, tai ilfatin
Thou art sick, intsi ilfatin
He is sick, Ifa
We are sick, taiti ilfaf
You are sick intsip ilfuf
are sick, 1}
NEGATIVE.
Iam not sick, wangk tsik ilfatit
IMPERFECT.
I was sick yesterday, ” iMfatin tsi kuyi
Thou wast sick yearsriy, imku ilfatin
He was sick yesterday, hu ilfatin

FInsT FUTURE.
To-morrow I shall be sick, rnidji tallfit ta:!

The following example will serve to illustrate the
great changes verbs undergo in their conjugations;—
ksitapatsitup maha, | love thee; tsitapintsuo kok, 1 love him;
himtapintswata tsit kak, he loves me: hintsitapintsiwata tsii,
dost thou love me?®

The Yamkally is spoken at the sources of the Willa-
mette River. A comparison of the Yamkally and
Calapooya vocabularies shows a certain relationship
between them.”

I have said that certain affitiities are discovered be-
tween the Waiilatpu and Mollale, and aiso between the
Watlala and Chinook; in these, as well asin the Cala-
pooya and Yamkally, Buschmain discovers faint traces
of ‘the Aztec language.‘ Others have discovered a
fancied relationship between the language of the
Mexicans and those of more northern nations, but Mr
Buschmann believes that, descending from the north,
the peoples mentioned, whose lands are drained by
the Columbia, are the first in which the Aztec, in
dim shadows, makes its appearance. These similaritie,
he discovered not alone by direct comparisons with the
Aztec, but also by detecting resemblances between these
Columbian dialects and those of certain nations which

® Hale's Ethnog., in U. S. Ex. Ez., vol. vi., p. 566, et seq.

50 Bsa Kallapuiah, Oregon Indians of the Shai of the Walla-
mette, peas a language related to that of the Cathlascons and Haeeltzuk.’
Indewig's A 202. ‘Gross die Verwandtschaft der Kalapuya und

des Tacakallte: aber ie verschiedenen Wértern fehlt es nicht.’ mann,
Spuren der Astek. Spr., p. 628.

Pe Sag = Rag ERNE > eae gE) oP gle ae Nel

COLUMBIAN AND MEXICAN COMPARISONS. 681

he calls his Sonora group and its affiliations, all of which
contain elements of the Aztec tongue. Yet Mr Busch-
mann does not therefrom claim any relationship between
the Aztecs and Columbians, but only notices these few
slight assimilations.”

Herewith is a comparative table, containing a few
similar words:

Comparative TABLE, SHOWING SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE COLUMBIAN AND
Mexican Tonavuzs,

ENG- WArl- MOI- WATLALA. OHINOOK. CALA- AZTEC. SONORA

LISH. LATPU. LALX. POOYA. FAMILY.
Yes i ia a ah he, aw e, ha
Tooth tenif tanti _tlantili

Red tkhlpal tkhlpolpol tlapalli

Wind ikkhala itskhak ikhala ehecatl heicala
Black tkhlol tkhlalukh tlilli

Water wematkh] webatkhl atl

I i ca naika née ne
Chief iatoiang iakant iout, iauta

The Chinook jargon is employed by the white
people in their intercourse: ~ith the natives, as well as
by the natives among themselves. It is spoken through-
out Oregon, Washington Territory, on Vancouver Island,
and extends inland into Idaho and some parts of Mon-
tana. It is more than probable that, like other languages
de convenance, it formed itself gradually, first among the
natives themselves, and that in the course of time, in
order to facilitate their intercourse with the aborigines,
trappers and traders adopted and improved it, until it
was finally brought into its present state. Indeed, so
great was the diversity of languages in this vicinity, and
so intricate were they, that without something of this
kind there could have been but little intercourse between
the people.

A somewhat similar mixture I have already men-
tioned as existing in Alaska. Father Paul Le Jeune
gives a short account of a jargon in use between the

5! ‘ Héchat merkwirdig sind einzelne unldugbare aztekische und zweitens
einzelne sonorische Worter, welche ich in diesen Sprachen aufgefunden
habe.’ Buschmann, Spuren der Astek. Spr., p. 629.

682 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

French and the Indians, in the north-eastern part of
America, as early asthe year 1633.° In Europe a simi-
lar mixture, or patois, prevails to this day, the lingua
franca, used by the many nationalities that con-
gregate upon the shores of the Mediterranean. In
China, and in the East Indies, the so-called pigeon
English occupies the same place; and in various parts
of Central and Southern America, neutral languages
may be found. To show how languages spring up and
grow, Vancouver, when visiting the coast in 1792,
found in various places along the shores of Oregon,
Washington, and Vancouver Island, nation.. that now
and then understood words and sentences of the Nootka:
and other tongues, some of which had been adopted
into their own language.

When Lewis and Clarke, in 1806, reached the coast,
the jergon seems to have already assumed a fixed shape,
as may be seen from the sentences quoted by the explorers.
But not until the arrival of the expedition sent out by
John Jacob Astor does it appear that either English or
I'rench words, of which it contains a large percentage,
were incorporated. Very few, if any, of the words of
which the jargon is composed, retain their original shape.
The harsh, guttural, and unpronounceable native cackling
was softened or omitted, thus forming a speech suited
to all. In the same manner, some of the English sounds,
like f and r, unpronounceable by the native, were
dropped, or transferred into p and /, while all grammati-
cal forms were reduced to the fewest and plainest rules
possible.” But even in this jargon, there are what

8 ‘This system of jargons began very early, and has, doubtless, led to
many errors, As early as 1633, the Jesuit Father Paul Le Jeune wrete: “I
have remarked, in the study of their language, that there is a certaii jargor.
between the Freneh and Indians, which is neither French nor Indian; and yei,
when the French use it, they think they are speaking Indian, and the Indiuns
usiug it, think they speak good French."’’ Hist. Mag., vol. v., p: 345,

53 Gibbs’ Chinook Die,, p. 6; San Francisco Evening Builetin, June
15, 1866. ‘Chinook is a jargon which was invented by the Hudson's
Bay Company for the purpose of facilitating communication with the dif-
feront Indian tribes, These were so numerous, and their languages so
various, that the traders found it impossible to learn them all, and adopted

the device of a judicious mixture of English, French, Russian, and several
Indian tongues, which has a very limited vocabulary; but which, by the

t of
imi-
ngua
con-
In
geon
parts
Anges
» and
792,
egon,
now
ootka:

opted

coast,
hape,
orers.
ut by
ish or

tage,
s of
phape.
skling
suited
bunds,

\ jargor.
nd yet,
Indiz.ns

, June
hidson's
the dif-
lages so
adopted
several

by the

ANALYSIS OF THE CHINOOK JARGON. 683

may be called dialectic differences; for instance, many
words used at the Dalles, are quite unintelligible at the
mouth of the Columbia and at Puget Sound. It has
often been asserted that the jargon was invented or
originated by the Hudson’s Bay Company, but although
the fur company undoubtedly greatly aided its develop-
ment, and assisted in perfecting it, it is well known,
first, that this jargon existed before the advent of
Europeans, and secondly, that languages are not made
in this way.

Mr Gibbs states the nuinber of words to be nearly
five hundred, and after a careful analysis of the ] uiguage,
has arrived at the following conclusion us to the sumber
contributed by the several nationalities:

Chinook and Clatsop 200 words
Chinook, having analogies with other languages 21 a
Interjections common to seve: 8 Ly
Nootka, including dialects 24 “
Chehalis, 32, and Nisqually, 7 39 “
Kliketat and Yakima =

2

2
Chippeway (Ojibway) 1
Wasco (probably) eee
Calapooya (probably) 4
By direct onomatopa@ia 6
Derivation unknown, or undetermined 18
French, 90, Canadian, 4 94 “
English 67 ae 4

As before mentioned, foreign words adopted into the
jargon vocabulary are changed to suit the taste of the

help of signs, is readily understood by all the natives, and serves as a com-
mon language.’ Milton and Cheadle'’s N. W. Passage, p. 344. ‘The jargon
so much in use all over the North Pacific Coast, among both whites and
Indians, as a verbal medium of communicating with each other, was origin-
ally invented by the Hudson's Bay Company, in order to facilitate the pro-
gress of their commerce with Indians.’ s+ vart's Dictionary of Chinook Jargon,

. 161. ‘Chinook is a jargon, consistin,; of not more than three or four
Cantred words, drawn from the Frencl:. English, Spanish, Indian, and the
fancy of the inventor, It was contrived by the Hudson's Bay Company for
the convenience of trade.’ bruaot, in Ind, Aff, Rept., 1871, p. 124. Sproat
disputes the invention of the jargon, and says: ‘Such an achievement as the
invention of « language, is beyond the capabilities of even a chief factor,’
Scenes, p. 139. ‘I think that, among the Coast Indians in particular, the
Indian part of the language has been in use for years.’ Stan's N. W. Coast,
p- 307, Hale's Ethnog, in U.S. Ex. Ex., vol. vi., p. 635, et seq.

4 Gibbs’ Chinook Diec., pp. vii.-viii. ‘AN the words thus brought
together and combined in this singularly constructed speech are about two
hundred and fifty in number,’ Hale's Hthnog., in U.S. Be. Ex, vol. vi., p.
636, ‘Words undonbdtedly of Japanese origin are still used in the jargon
spoken on the coast called Chinook.’ Lord's Nat., vol. ii, p, 217.

634 COLUMBIAN LANGUAGES.

speaker, as in the word Frangais, being unable to pro-
nounce the f, 7, and n, for Frenchman they say pasaiwuke,
and for French, pasai. The few words formed by
onomatopeeia, are after this fashion ;—tumtum, heart, an
imitation of its beating; tintin, bell; tiktik, watch; liplip,
to boil, from the sound of boiling water, and so on.

Neither article nor inflections are employed. Okok;,
this, at times takes the place of the English the. Asa
rule, plurals are not distinguished, but sometimes the
word /Awiu, many, is used. Adjectives precede nouns, as
in English,—lasuai hakatshum, silk handkerchief; masatsi
tilikum, bad people. The comparative is expressed, for
example, in the sentence, I am stronger than thou, by wek
maika skukum kakwa naika, thou not strong as I.
Superlative,—haias oluman okok kanem, very old that
canoe. There are only two conjunctions, pi, derived
from the French puis, which denotes and, or then; and
pos, from suppose, meaning if, im case that, provided
that. The particle na is at times used as an interroga-
tive.™

The Lord’s Prayer in the Chinook jargon is as
follows:

Nesika papa klaksta mitlite kopa saghalie, kloshe

Our Fat who stayeth in the above, good

kopa nesika tumtum mika nem; kloshe mika tyee

in our hearts (be) thy naieey good thou chief
kopa henowny tilikum; kloshe mika tamtum kopa

among all people; good thy will upon
illahie, kahkwe kopa saghalie. Potlateh konaway sun
earth, in the above. every day

nesika muckamuck Spose nesika cdl manshehie,

our ‘ood, If we do ;

wake mike hyas solleks, pe spose klaksta Pa OWS

(be) not thou very angry, and = if any one evil

kopa nesika. wake nesika solleks kopa klaska, Mahesh

towards us, not we angry towards them. Send away

sinh kopa nesaika konaway masahchie. Kloshe kahkwa.
far from us all evil, 56

55 Hale's Ethnog,, in U. 8. P Ee., vol. vi., p. 636, et seq.
6 Gibbs’ Chinook Dic., p. 44

) pro-
aiukes,
ed by
irt, an
liplip,
g0 On.
Okok,

Asa
es the
ins, as
nasatsi
ed, for
by wek
yas I.
ld that
lerived
n; and
rovided
erroga-

CHAPTER IV.

CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

Mo.trerictty or Toncurs—Yaxon, KnamMatu, and Panatx ComPpartsons—
Prrr Rrver anp Wintoon VocaBuLanirs—Wereyot, WisHosk, WEITSPEK,
anp Erxrx Comparisons —LanauaGes or Humpotpr Bay — Porrer
Vauuey, Russtran anp Ext River Lanauaces—Pomo Lanoavaces—
C.nLINOMERO GRAMMAR — TRANS-PactFIc ComMPARISONS —- CHOCUYEM
Lorp’s Praver—LanouaGes OF THE SacrRAMENTO, San Joaquin, Napa
anpD Sonoma VanuEys—THE OLHONE AND OTHER LANGUAGES OF San
te. scrsco Bay—Runsren anp Estenz or Monrerry—Santa Onara
1.ocp's Prayer— Muresun GramMar--LanGuaGks OF THE Missions SANTA
Cruz, Saw Awtonto pk Papva, SoLtEpAp, anD San MicueL—Tatcus
Gramman—Tar Diauects or Santa Cruz AND OTHER ISLANDS.

Notwithstanding the great diversity of tongues en-
countered in the regions of the north, the confusion
increases ten-fold on entering California. Probably
nowhere in America is there a greater multiformity of
languages and dialects than here. Until quite recently,
no attempt has been made to bring order out of this
linguistic chaos, owing mainly to a lack of grammars
and vocabularies. Within the last few years this want
has, in # measure, been supplied, and I hope to be able
to present some broader classifications than have hitherto
been attempted, Through the researches of Mr Powers,
who has kindly placed his materials at my disposal, and
the valuable information communicated by Judge Rose-
borough, the dialects of northern California have been
reduced to some sort of system, yet there remains the

(635)

ee) ee ee ee ee Pee ee ee, a oe eee ee re ee Se

636 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

fact that, in central and southern California, hundreds
of dialects have been permitted to die out, without
leaving us so much as their name.’

In attempting the classification of Californian tongues,
no little difficulty arises from the ambiguity of tribal
names. So far as appearances go, some peoples have no
distinctive name; others are known by the name of their
chief alone, or their rancheria; the affiliation of chief,
rancheria, and tribe being identical or distinct, ae the
case may be. Some writers have a common name for
all tribes speaking the same, or dialects of the same, lan-
guage; others name a people from each dialect. Last
of all, there are nations and tribes that call themselves
by one name, while their neighbors call them by another,
so that the classifier, ethnologic or philologic, is apt to
enumerate one people under two names, while omitting
many.”

We have seen in the Columbian languages, as we
approach the south, that they become softer and less
guttural; this is yet more observable among Californians,
whose speech, for the most part, is harmonious, pro-
nounceable, and rich in vowels; and this feature becomes
more and more marked as we proceed from northern to
southern California. On this point, Mr Powers writes:
‘Not only are the California languages distinguished for
that affluence of vowel sounds, which is more or less
characteristic of all tongues spoken in warm climates;

1 Roseborough’s Letter to the Author, MS.; The Shastas and their Neighbors,
MS. ‘The diversity of language is so great, in California, that at almost eve
15 or 20 leagues, you find a distinct dialect.’ Joscana, in Robinson's Life
in Cal., p. 240. ‘Ik n’est peut-étre aucun pays ou les différens idiomes soient
aussi multipli¢s que dans la Californie septentrionale.’ La Pérouse, Voy.,
tom, ii., p. 323. ‘One might spend years with diligence in noanising an In-
dian tongue, then journey a three-hours’ space, and find himself adrift again,
so multitudinons are the languages and dialects of California.’ Powers’
North, Cal, Ind., in Overland Monthly, vol. viii., p. 328. ‘The diversity is
such ns to preclude almost entirely all verbal communication.’ Hutchiny;s’
Cal. Mag., vol. iii., p. 159. or vary from tribe to tribe.’ Pick-
ering’s Races, in U. S. He, Ew., vol.ix., p. 106. ‘In California, there appears
to be spoken two or more distinct languages.’ McCulloh’s Researches tn
Amer., ay Kotzebue's Voyage, vol. iii., p. 48; Id., New Voy., vol. ii., p.
98; Taylor, in Bancroft’s Handbook Almanac, 1864, R. 29
# See vol i., p. 325; Roseboroujh's Letter to the Author, M8.; The Shastas
and their Neighbors, MS.; Hutchings’ Cal. May., vol. iii., p. 169,

RULES OF EUPHONY ’N CALIFORNIA. 687

but most of them are also remarkable for their special
striving after harmony. There ure a few languages found
in the northern mountains which are harsh and sesqui-
pedalian, and some on the coast that are guttural beyond
the compass of our American organs of speech; but with
these few exceptions, the numerous languages of the
state are beautiful above all their neighbors for their
simplicity, the brevity of their words, their melody, and
their harmonious sequences,’”*

Throughout California, much attention is paid to the
euphony of words; and if, in the inevitable manufacturing
process, a syllable does not sound well, or does not ex-
actly harmonize according to the native ear, it is ruth-
lessly sacrificed. In many languages these elisions are
made in accordance with fixed rules, while others, again,
obey no other mandate but harmony.

Concerning the languages of northern California,
Judge Roseborough writes: ‘In an ethnological view,
the language of these various tribes is a subject of great
interest. They seem to be governed by the geographical
nature of the country, which has had much influence
in directing the migrations and settlement of the various
tribes in this state, where they have been found by the
whites; and there have been in remote times at least three
currents, or lines of migration, namely,—first, one along
the coast southward, dispersing more or less towards the
interior as the nature of the country and hostile tribes per-
mitted. Inso broken and rough acountry the migrations
must have been slow, and the eddies numerous, leav-
ing many fragments of aboriginal tribes here and there
with language and customs wholly dissimilar. Second,
that along the Willamette Valley, over the passes of
the Calapooya, across the open lands of the Umpqua,
southward through Rogue River Valley into Shasta and
Scott valleys. As an evidence of this trace | may
mention that all the tribes on this line, from theCalapooya
mountains southward to the head of Shasta and Scott
valleys, speak the same language, and were confederate

3 Powers’ Pomo, M8.

688 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

in their wars with the tribes on Pitt River, who seem
to have arrested their progress southward. In this con-
nection | may mention two facts worthy of remark,
namely, first, in this cataclysm of tribes, there have been
some singular displacements; for instance, the similarity
of language and customs of the Cumbatwas and other
cognate tribes on Pitt River denotes a common origin
with a small tribe found on Smith River, on the north-
west coast: and secondly, the traditions of the Shastas
settled in Shasta and Scott valleys, the advance of this
line of migrations, show that a former tribe had been
found in possession of those valleys and mountains, and
had been driven out. The remains of their ancient
villages, and the arrangements still visible in their
excavations confirm the fact, and also the further fact
that the expelled tribes were the same, or cognate -to
those which the whites found in occupation of the Sac-
ramento Valley. For instance, in all of these ancient
villages, there was one house of very large dimensions,
used for feasts, ceremonious dances, etc., just as we
found on the settlement of California, in the valley of
Sacramento. The existing tribes in those .mountains
have no such domicil and no public houses. ‘hey say,
when asked, that the villages were built and inhabited
by a tribe that lived there before they came, and that
those ancient dwellers worshiped the great snowy Mount
Shasta, and always built their villages in places from
which they could behold that mountain. Thirdly,
another wave of migration evidently came southward
along the Des Chutes River, upon the great plateau of
the lakes, which conclusion is borne out by a similarity
of languages and customs, as well as by traditions,” ‘

In support of this theory Judge Roseborough states,
that the languages spoken on Smith River, and extending
thence forty miles along the coast, are radically and
wholly different from those of the neighboring tribes.
The former are harsh, guttural, irregular, and apparently
monosyllabic, while on the other hand, the neighboring
4 Roseoroujh’s Letter to the Author, MS, :

LANGUAGES OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. 639

tribes inhabiting the coast southward to Humboldt Bay,
and along the Klamath as far up as the mouth of the
Trinity, speak a language very regular in its structure;
copious in its capacity for expressing ideas and shades of
thought, and not unpleasing to the ear, being free from
harsh and guttural sounds. Of all the languages spoken
in this part, that which prevails along the Klamath
River, as far up as Happy Camp, and along the Salmon
to its sources, is by far the most regular and musical.
In fact, for its regular and musical accents it occupies
among the Indian tongues of the continent the same
preéminence that the Spanish does among the Cauca-
sian languages. For instance, their proper nouns for
persons and places are very euphoneous, as, euphippa,
escassasoo, names of persons, and tahasoofcu, cheenich, pa-
numna, chimicanee, tooyook, savorum, names of noted lo-
calities along the river.

As an example of the copiousness and richness of
the coast languages above Humboldt Bay, Judge Rose-
borough cites the following, for one, two, three, four,
they say, kor, nihhi, naxil, chohnah; 80 for to-morrow they
say, kohchamol; for the day xfter to-morrow, nahamohi;
three days hence, naxamohl; four days hence, chohnah-
amol. Nor do they stop here; mare, being five, and
marunimicha, fifteen; the fifteenth day from the present
is, marunimichihamohl.

Mr George Bancroft in his Indianology crroneously
asserts that the sound of our letter r does not occur in
any of the aboriginal languages of America, A similar
assertion has been made with regard to Asiatic tongues,
that there is not a people from the peninsula of Hindos-
tan to Kamchatka who make use of this sound. Although
this idea is now exploded, evidence goes to show the
rarity of the use of the letter rin these regions; yet,
Judge Roseborough assures me that in these northern
Californian dialects the sound of this letter is not only
frequent, but is uttered with its most rolling, whirring
emphasis; that such words as arrarra, Indian; carrook,
or cahroc, up; eurook, or euroc, down; seearrook, across

640 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

and up; micarra, the name of a village; tahasoofcarrah,
that is to say the village of upper Tahasoofca, are
brought forth with an intensity that a Frenchman could
not exceed.

On both sides of the Oregon and Californian boundary
line is spoken the Klamath language; adjoining it on
the north is the Yakon, and on the south the Shasta and
the Palaik. A dialect of the Klamath is also spoken by
the Modocs. Herewith I give a short comparative table,
and although no relationship between them is claimed,
yet many of the words which I have selected are not
without a similarity.°

YAKON, KLAMATH. SHASTA. PALAIK.
Man kalt hisuatsos awatikoa yaliu
Woman __ tkhiaks snawats taritsi omtewitsen
Mouth ai sum au, or aof, ap

Leg a tsoks halaway, or hatis, atetewa
Water kilo am atsa as
Bieod pouts i ime ahati
Earth onitstoh aela tarak kela
Stone kelih kotai itsa olisti
Wood kukh anko awa hau
Beaver kantsilawa pum tawai pum
Dog tskekh watsak hapso watsaga
Bird kokoaia lalak tararakh lauitsa
Salmon _tsutais tsialus kitari tsialas
Great haihaiat modnis kempe wawa

Along Pitt River and its tributaries are the Pitt River
Indians and the Wintoons, of which languages short
vocabularies are given.

PITT BIVER.
Man t’elyou Hair teee
Woman emmetowchan Eyes ossa
House teoomchee ose yame
Tree (pine) oswoo Mouth yanena
Water O88 Teeth etesii
Stone alliste Legs siya
Sun tsoul Fire nallis

they cannot be very widely separated.’ Latham's Comp. Phil., vol. viii., p.
407. The T-ka, Id-do-a, Ho-te-day, We-o-how, or Shasta Indians, speak

THE WINTOON, EUROC, AND CAHROC. 641

tchool ig walswa
owwicha chowkootcha
chahoom deoome
doshshe

loehta

ummina
darcus
boss

net
mem
luhay
sash

chamitta
kenavina, or peno
suco

no}
chilch, or weemer,

On the lower Klamath, the Euroc language prevails.
As compared with the dialects of southern California,
it is guttural; there being apparently in some of its
words, or rather grunts, a total absence of vowels,—
mrprh, nose; chlh, earth; yna, child. Among other
sounds peculiar to it, there is that of the UW, so frequent
in the Welsh language. Mr Powers says that, “in
conversation they terminate many words with an aspi-
ration which is imperfectly indicated by the letter A, a
sort of catching of the sound, immediately followed by
the letting out of the residue of breath, with a quick
little grunt. This makes their speech harsh and halting;
the voice often comes toa dead stop in the middle of a
sentence.” He further adds that ‘the language seems
to have had a monosyllabic origin, and, in fact, they
pronounce many dissyllables as if they were two mono-
syllables,”

Along the upper Klamath, the Cahroc language is
spoken, which is entirely distinct from that of the
Kurocs. It is sonorous, and its intonation has even
been compared with that of the Spanish, being not
at all guttural like the Euroc. The r, when it oc-
curs in such words as chareya, and cahroc, is strangely
rolled. The language is copious; the people speaking it
having a name for everything, and on seeing any article

6 The Shastas and their Neighbors, MS.
U Vaokeon’s Foca. ofthe Wintoon Language, MS, ; Powers’ Vocabularies, MS.
OL. .

642 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

new to them, if a proper designation is not immediately
at hand, they forthwith proceed to manufacture one.

Another guttural language is the Pataway, spoken on
Trinity River. Its pronunciation is like the Euroc, and
it has the same curious, abrupt stopping of the voice at
the end of syllables terminating with a vowel, as Mr
Powers describes it. Related to it is the Veeard of
lower Humboldt Bay. The numerals in the latter lan-
guage are: koh-tseh, one; dee-teh, two; dee-keh, three;
deeh-oh, four; weh-sah, five; childkeh, six; awtloh, seven;
owit, eight; serdkeh, nine; lokdl ten.®

The language known as the Weitspek, spoken at the
junction of the Trinity and Klamath rivers, is probably
the same which Mr Powers has named the Pataway.
It is also said to have the frequently occurring rolling r.
The f, as in the Oregon languages, is wanting. Dia-
lects of the Weitspek are the Weeyot and Wishosk, on
Kel and Mad rivers, This language is understood from
the coast range down to the coast between Cape Mendo-
cino and Mad River.? The Ehnek, or Pehtsik, language
is spoken on Salmon River; thence in the region of the
Klamath, are the Watsahewah, Howteteoh, and Nabiltse
languages.”

COMPARISONS.

WEEYOT. WI8HOSE. WEITSPEK. EHNEK. ‘
Man ko ¢h ko-¢h pagehk ah wunsh
Arrow sihpe tsahpé nah qut kha-wish
Water merah tche mer ah ché pa ha iss shah
Earth let kuk let kuk chahk stee
Dog wyets wy’ts chishé chish ee
Fire mass mess mets ah
Sun taum tahm wa noush leh kosh rah
One koh tse kohtsa spinekoh issah
Two er ee ta ritta nuh ehr ach hok
Three er ee ka rihk nak sa kui rahk
Four re aw wa ri yah toh hun ne peehs
Five wessa wéhsah mahr o tum ti rah o

8 Powers’ Pomo, MS.

9 Gibbs, in Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol. iii., p. 422. ‘The junction of the rivers

Klamath, or Kh gives us the locality of the Weitspek. Its dialects, the

Weyot and Wishosk, extend far into Humboldt county, where they are prob-

ably the prevailing form of speech, being used on the Mad River, and the

rts about Cape Mendocino. From the Weitspek they differ much more

mn they do from each other.’ Latham’s Comp. Phil., vol. viii., p. 40.

‘ Weeyot und Wish-osk, unter einander verwandt.’ Buschmann, Spuren der
Aatek. Spr, Pp. 575,

10 Gibbs, in Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol. iii., pp. 422-3,

a ee ie

THE POMO FAMILY AND ITS DIALECTS. 648

The Chillulah, Wheelcutta, and Kailta were spoken
on Redwood Creek, but before the extinction of these
people, their languages were merged into that of the
Hoopahs by whom they were subjugated. The language
of the Chimalquays of New River has also been ab-
sorbed by the Hoopah. Of the Chimalquays Powers
hyperbolically remarks “their language was like the
mountain city of California, beautiful in its simplicity,
but frail.” ”

At Humboldt Bay a language called Patawat is men-
tioned, and in Round Valley the Yuka. The numerals
in the latter tongue are—pongwe, one; opeh, two; malmeh,
three; and omehet, four. In Potter Valley is the Tahtoo
language which Mr Powers thinks may belong to the
Pomo or the Yuka.” In the Eel River and Russian
River valleys as far as the mouth of Russian River and
in Potter Valley, the different tribes known by the
names of Ukiahs or Yokias, Sanéls, Gallinomeros, Ma-
sallamagoons, Gualalas, and Matoles, speak various dia-
lects of the Pomo language, which obtains in Potter
Valley and the dialects of which become more and more
estranged according to the distance from the aboriginal
centre. ‘The Pomo men are good linguists; they readily
acquire all the different dialects of their language, which
in places differ to such an extent, that unless they are
previously learned they cannot be understood. Pomo
women are not allowed to learn any dialect but their
own.

The following comparative table of numerals will
illustrate the relationship of these tribes, among which
I include the Kulanapo spoken near Clear Lake, and of
which Mr Gibbs has also noticed an affinity to the Rus-
sian River and Hel River languages; also, the language
spoken by the natives of the Yonios Rancherfa in Marin
County.”

| Powers’ Pomo, M8.

12 Roseborough's Letter to the Author, MS.; Powers’ Pomo, MS.

13 Gibbs, in Schoolcraft's Arch., A ea pp. 421-2; Powers’ "Pomo, MS.;
Taylor, in Cal, Farmer, March 90, 1

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644 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

POMO UKIAH. SANEL, GALINO- KULANAPO. YONIO.
MERO.

One cha taro tate cha k’hah lih kalli
Two co can co aco kots hotz
Three sibbo sibbo sibboo mesibbo homeka ho-nka
Four tack duhan ducho meta dol eaddol
Five shal native mato tooshuh leh ma lema
Six padeh tsadeh tsadeh lancha tsa di BAY
Seven copsh hoyneit céémar latco ku la hots kolaus

Eight cowal _cogodol cogodol cométa ko ka dohl kadol
Nine shalshalnémyoshum nimoshum chaco hah da rol shum gin
Ten sala némpotec nAvacotec chasito hah darultek hidelema

On the Gallinomero dialect I make a few grammatical
remarks, In conversation the Gallinomeros are rather
slovenly and make use of frequent contractions and abbre-
viations like the English can’t and shan’t, which makes
it difficult for a stranger to understand them. Another
difficulty for the student is the convertibility of a number
of letters, such as ¢ into ch, sh into ch, 1 into ah, ete.
Nouns have neither number, case, nor gender; the first
being only occasionally indicated by a separate word,—
cha ataboénya, one man; aco atabodnja, two men. The
genitiveis formed by placing the words in juxtaposition,—
atépte metitega, the chief’s brother; the governed word
being always prepositive. None of the remaining cases
are distinguished; for example,—chadiina biddcha, I see
the river; biddcha hoalye, I go to the river, or, into the
river; biddcha huodina, I come out of the river; diddcha
toholeéna, I go away from the river; the accusative
may be recognized as being placed immediately after the
verb, but there are many exceptions to this rule. Some-
times the accusative is also marked by the ending ga
or gen,—chechoanodtugen, I strike the boy; but this is
seldom used. Verbs are always regular. There are
present, imperfect, and future tenses, and three forms of
the imperative, all distinctly marked by tense endings.

Present INDICATIVE. IMPERFECT, First Forvex.
Do, tseena tseeteéna tseeciwa
Go, hoalye hoaleteéna hoalectiwa
Break, matsina matsanteéna matsanciwa
Kill, matem4na matemantecéna matemanciwa
See, chadiina chaduteéna chaduciwa
Fight, mehailme mehailmoote¢éna mehailmoociwa

‘In some instances these endings are changed for the

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GALLINOMERO GRAMMAR. 645

sake of euphony, certain letters being elided. The end-
ings may really be called auxiliary verbs, attached to
the principal verb. Thus the imperfect reads, literally,
‘would be I go do,’ the ending ¢eena being nothing but
the word tseena, with the s omitted. In like manner the
future is formed, as in twddwa, to want, which is changed
into ciéwa.

There is nothing to denote number in the verb, as can
be seen in the

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE.

Tam, abwa We are, f&yawa
Thou art, amawa You are, &mawa
He is, hamowa They are, hadmowa

Of the imperative, the following may serve as an
example: hodleluh, let me go; hoalin, go thou; hodlegun,
let him go. The verb chadina, to see, may signify

either I see, or seeing, or to see, or it may be construed

as a substantive—sight; or as an adjective in agglutin-
ation, as chadunatobodnya, a watchful man. Chanhédin
is an auxiliary verb and is always prepositive. The
pronouns are, ah, ahto, or ahmet, I; ama, thou; and
wemo, waymo, hamo, or dmata, he. The first person of
the pronoun is always omitted, except with the verb to
be, and the second and third persons frequently. Pro-
nominal adjectives are quite irregular, as owkey, from
ah; maykey, from ama; wébakey, from wemo; and they
are also used irregularly with nouns, Thus in medde,
father; ahmen, or owkdhmen, or dhmedde, being equiva-
lent to I father, my father. Here, also, euphony steps
in and makes words sometimes wholly unrecognizable, as
ahtdtdna, equivalent to méhand, and still more different,
as mamdwky, this is for me. Your father is mdykemay;
his father, wébamen. Thus it will be seen that medde is
changed, or abbreviated, into men, and may. Sometimes
the personal pronoun is agglutinated to the verb, and
sometimes it is not;—chechodnomdo (chechodna meto),
I strike you; meto tuddwa, I love you. As in many
other Pacific States languages, we have here a reveren-

646 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

tial syllable, which in this language is always prefixed,
whereas in others, for instance the Aztec, it is an affix.
Speaking of persons related, or of things belonging, to
the chief, the reverential me or jin, is always prefixed ;
—owkeybal, my wife; maykeybal, your wife; atdpte
meitchen, the chief’s wife; shinna, head; metoshin, your
head; webashin, his head; atdpte jinshinna, the chief's
head. All adjectives are really substantives, and are
used for both purposes. Thus, ootw, boy, also signifies
little, or young. Adjectives are generally placed after
nouns,—majey codey, good day; but there are also many
exceptions to this rule. Comparatives are expressed by
the particle pala, more ;——paleyabdta waymo ahmet, he is
greater thanI, pala becoming paléya, in composition.
This is only used by the more intelligent class. A
Gallinomero of the lower order would say, bata wayma
ahmet, great he I. The principal characteristics of the
language are euphony and brevity, to which all things’
else are subservient, but nevertheless, as I have shown
already, agglutination is carried to the farthest extent."
As will be seen by the following comparative table,

the Pomo language, or rather one of its dialects, the
Kulanapo, shows some affinity to the Malay family of
languages. Of one hundred and seventy words which I
have compared, I find fifteen per cent. showing Mala
similarities, and more could perhaps have been found if
the several vocabularies had been made upon some one
system. As it is, I have been obliged to use a Malay, a
Tonga, and other Polynesian vocabularies, taken by dif-
ferent persons, at different times. Without attempting to
establish any relationship between the Polynesians and
Californians, I present these similarities merely as a
fact; these analogies I find existing nowhere else in Cal-
ifornia, and between them and no other Trans-Pacific

peoples.’®

4 Powers’ Notes on Cal, Languages, MS.

18 Gibbs, in Schooleraft’s Arch., vol. iii., p. 428, et seq.; Hale’s Ethnog.,
in U.S. Hw. Ez., vol. vi., p. 342, et seq.; Keppel’s Kaped., vol. i., appendix,
p. 14, et seq.; Martin's Tonga Iel., vol. li.

TRANS-PACIFIC COMPARISONS. 647

MALAY DIALECT OF THE
MALAY.

do Kayan

indi, ini Sakarran

_ laki, lake

bini

kah (calli, Aztec)
lah

a

oh (Copeh)
Phah ri
dah no
keela keelick Polynesian
keh dah reh duk d Malay
doh tor t: Polynesian
mu dal i Malay
hah : Polynesian
k’hah lih i Polynesian
tchah (Yukai) Malay
dol t Polynesian
leh ma i Malay
ku hu i Polynesian
mih mea inoo Tonga
el lih (Chocuyem) ilaw Tonga
le loom aloo Tonga
pah chee pase Malay
Iehn teep (Chocuyem) lida Malay
co yok (Chocuyem) ku jak Suntah

The similarities existing between the Japanese and
Chinese, and the Californian languages, appearing from
a careful comparison of the same one hundred and
seventy words, are insufficient to establish any relation-
ship; the few resemblances may be regarded as purely
accidental. Of these words I insert the following,
which are all between which I have been able to discover
any likeness:

Japanese Costaiios makho
Chinese i Copeh see ih
Japanese Costaiios tepah
Chinese Choweshak ho
Japanese Costaiios see €6
Japanese i Weitspek and chishe
Ehbnek
Japanese Copeh sith

The Choweshak and Batemdakaiee are mentioned as
being spoken at the head of Hel River, and the Cho-
cuyem in Marin County, near the Mission of San
Rafael.. On Russian River, there yet remuin to be

648 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES,

mentioned the Olamentke, and the Chwachamaju. All
these may be properly classed as dialects nearly related
to the Pomo family, and some of them may even be the
same dialects under different names.”

Of the Chocuyem I give the following Lord’s Prayer:

Api maco su lilecoe, ma nénas mi aués omai micono
mi taucuchs oyépa mi tauco chaquenit opi neyatto
chaquenit opu liletto. Tu maco muye genum ji naya
macono sucuji sulia mdcono masécte, chague mat opu
ma suli mayaco. Macoi yangia ume omutto, ulémi
mécono omu incapo. Nette esa Jesus.”

In Round Valley, northern California, there is the
before-mentioned Yuka language, which is connected
with the Wapo, or Ashochemie, spoken near Calistoga,
and in the mountains leading thence to the Geysers.”

On Yuba and Feather rivers are the Meidoos and
Neeshenams of whose language Powers says that ‘‘ the
Meidoo shades away so gradually into the Neeshenam
that it is extremely difficult to draw a line anywhere.
But it must be drawn somewhere, because a vocabulary
taken down on Feather River will lose three fourths of
its words before it reaches the Cosumnes. Hven a vocab-
ulary taken on Bear River will lose half or more of its
words in going to the Cosumnes, which denotes, as is

16 ‘Die Indianer in Bodega verstehen nur mit Miihe die Sprache derje-
nigen welche in den Ebenen am Siawinka-Flusse leben; die Sprache der
nérdlich von Ross lebenden Stimme ist ihnen vdllig unverstindlich.’ Baer,
Stat. u. Ethno., p. 75. ‘Die Bodegischen Indianer verstehen die nérdlichen
nicht, sowohl die Sprache als die Art der Aussprache ist verschieden. Die
Entfernten und die Steppen-Indianer perennen. eine Menge Dialecte oder
Sprachen, deren Eigenthiimlichkeit und Verwandtschaft noch nicht bekannt
sind.’ Kostromitonow, in Id., p. 80; Gibbs, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii., p.
421, ‘Kulanapo und Yukai, verwandt: d. h. in dem beschrinkten Grade,
dass viele Worter, zwischen ihnen tibereinstimmen, viele andere, z. B. ein
guter Theil der Zahlwérter, verschieden sind....Choweshak und Batem-
dakaiee sehr genau und im vollkommnen Maasse unter einander, und wie-
derum beide ganz genau mit Yukai, und auch Kulanapo verwandt.... Wichtig
ist es aber zu sagen, dass die Sprache Tchokoyem mit dem Olamentke der
Bodega Bai und mit der Mission 8. Raphael nahe gleich ist.’ Buschmann,
Spuren der Aztek. Spr., p. 575, ‘The ianimares speak a different dialect
from the Tamalos, The Sonoma Indians also speak different from Tamalos.
The Sonomos speak a similar dialect as the Suisuns. The San Rafael Indi-
one Apes the same as the Tamalos.’ Taylor, in Cal. Farmer, March 30th,

17 Mofras, Ewplor., tom. ii., p. 391.
18 paren, Pomo, us.

All
ated
> the

uyer:
cono
yatto
naya
; opu
ulémi

s the
ected
stoga,
3,18
; and
“the
enam
yhere.
lary

LANGUAGES OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY. 649

the fact, that the Neeshenam language varies greatly
within itself. Indeed, it is probably less homogeneous
and more thronged with dialects than any other tongue
in California. Let an Indian go even from Georgetown
to American Flat, or from Bear River to Auburn, and,
with the exception of the numerals he will not at first
understand above one word in four, or five, or six. But,
with this small stock in common, and the same laws of
grammar to guide them, they pick up each others dialects
with amazing rapidity. It is these wide variations
which have caused some pioneers to believe that there
is one tongue spoken on the plains around Sacramento,
and another in the mountains; whereas they are as
nearly identical as the mountain dialects are. So long
as the numerals remain the same, I count it one lan-
guage; and so long as this is the case, the Indians gen-
erally learn each others dialects; but when the numerals
change utterly, they often find it easier to speak the
English together than to acquire another tongue. As
to the southern boundary of the Neeshenam there is no
doubt, for at the Cosumnes the language changes abruptly
and totally.”

Along the banks of the Sacramento, two distinct lin-
guistic systems are said to prevail. But to what extent
all the languages mentioned in that vicinity are related,
or can be classified, it-is difficult to say; for not only is
there great confusion in names, but what is more essen-
tial, vocabularies of most of them are wanting. On the
eastern bank of the Sacramento and extending along
Feather River, the Cosumnes, and other tributaries of
the Sacramento, the following languages are mentioned:
Ochecamne, Serouskumne, Chupumne, Omochumne, Sie-
cumne, Walagumne, Cosumne, Sololumne, Turealumne,
Saywamine, Newichumne, Matchemne, Sagayayumne,
Muthelemne, Sopotatumne, and Talatiu. In all these
dialects the word for water is kik, but in the dialects
spoken on the west bank it is mémi. On the western
bank are mentioned the dialects of the Pujuni, Puzlum-
ne, Secumne, T'samak, Yasumne, Nemshaw, Kisky, Ya-

650 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

lesumne, Huk, and others.” Undoubtedly all these Sac-
ramento Valley dialects are more or less related, but of
them we have no positive knowledge except that the
Secumne and Tsumak are closely related, while the
Puzlumne and Talatiu also show many words in com-
mon, but cannot be said to affiliate.” In the mountains
south of the Yuba, and also on some parts of the Sacra-
mento the Cushna language obtains. On the latter
river Wilkes mentions the Kinkla, of which he says
that in comparison with the language of the northern
nations it may be called soft, ‘‘as much so as that of the
Polynesians.” Repetitions of syllables appear to be fre-
quent as wai-wai, and hau-hau-hau." In Napa Valley
six dialects were spoken, the Myacoma, Calayomane,
Caymus, Napa, Uluka, and Suscol.” In Solano County
the Guiluco language was spoken, of which the follow-
ing Lord’s Prayer may serve as a specimen:

All& igamé mutryocusé mi zahud om mi yahuatail
cha usqui etra shou mur tzecali ziam pac onjinta mul
zhaiige nasoyate chelegua mul znatzoitze tzecali zicmatan
zchiitiilaa chalehua mesqui pihuatzite yteima omahui.
Emqui Jesus. *

Near the straits of Karquines, and also in the San
Joaquin and Tulare valleys, the Tulare tongue prevailed.
In this language, if we may believe M. Duflot de Mofras,
the letters b, d, f, g, and r do not exist, the r being
changed into /, as maria, malia. Many guttural sounds
like kh, tsh, lm, tp, tsp, th, etc., are found, yet softer than

19 Hale's Ethnog., in U. 8. Ha. Ex., vol. vi., pp. 222, 620; Wilkes’ Nar.,
in Id., vol. v., p. 201.

20° Puzhune, Sekamne, Tsamak und Talatui....Sekumne und Tsamak
sind nuhe verwandt, die tibrigen zeigen emeingames und fremdes.’ Busch-
mann, Spuren der Adel, Spr., p. 571. ale’s vocabulary of the Talatiu be-
longs to the group for which the name of Moquelumne is proposed, a Moque-
lumne Hill and a Moquelumne River being found within the area over
which the languages belonging to it are spoken. Again, the names of the
tribes that speak them end largely in mne, Chupumne, etc. As far south as
Tuolumne County the language belongs to this division, viz., 1, the Mumal-
tachi; 2, Mullateco; 3, A augas; 4, sie uppus 5, 5, i ype or Typoxi band,
speak this language.’ m's Comp. Phil., vol. a + p. 414,

1 Wilkes’ Nar., in U. 8S, Ex. Ew., vol. v.,
‘8 Se ag HY Indianology of Napa County, M MS.
8 Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 3

SPECIMENS OF SOUTHERN LANGUAGES. 651

the gutturals of the north. Notwithstanding the above
statement M. de Mofras gives as a specimen of the
Tulare language the following Lord’s Prayer, in which
the r frequently occurs:

Appa macquen erinigmo tasunimac emracat, jinnin
eccey macquen iunisinmac macquen quitti éné soteyma
erinigmo: sumimac macquen hamjamu jinnan guara
ayei: sunun macquen quit ti enesunumac ayacma:
aquectsem unisimtac nininti equetmini: jurind macquen
equetmini em men.

Of the languages spoken at the mission of Santa Inez
the following Lord’s Prayer is given by M. de Mofras;
and this is very likely in the true Tulare language in
place of the one above.

Dios caquicoco upalequen alapa, quiaenicho opte: pa-
quininigug quique eccuet upalacs huatahuc itimisshup
caneche alapa. Ulamuhu ilahulalisahue. Picsiyug
equepe ginsucutaniyug uquiyagmagin, canechequique
quisagin sucutanagun utiyagmayiyug peux hoyug quie
utic lex ulechop santequiyug ilautechop. Amen Jesus.™

The Tulare language is probably the same which was
known under the name of Kahweyah in central Califor-
nia and may have some connection with the Cahuillo in
the southern part of the state.”

Languages in the interior, of which but little more
than the name and the region where they were spoken
is known, are, on the Tuolumne River the Hawhaw and
another which has no particular name; on the Merced
River the Coconoon with a dialect extending to King
River and to Tulare Lake.” Mr Powers makes of the
tribes inhabiting Kern and Tulare valleys the Yocut na-
tion, yocut signifying an aggregation of people, while

% Arroyo, Gram. de la lenqua Tulareta, MS., quoted in Mofras, Eaplor.,
tom. ii., p. 388, see also pp. 392-3, ‘Malgré le grand nombre de dialectes
des Missions de la Californie, les Franciscains espagnols s’étaient attachés
& apprendre la langue générale de la grande vallée de los Tulares, dont pres-
que toutes les tribus sont originaires, et ils ont rédigés le vocabulaire et une
sorte de grammaire de cette langue nommée el Tulareito,’ Id., p. 387.

% Taylor, in Cal. Farmer, May 25, 1860.

%6 Johnston, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iv., p. 407. ‘Die Sprachen der

Coconoons und die vom King’s River sind nahe verwandt,’ Buschmann, Spuren
der Aztek. Spr., p. 564.

652 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

myee, or nono, means man. “It is a singular fact” ob-
serves this writer, ‘‘ that in several of the northern lan-
guages kiya denotes dog, while in the Yocut, hiya is
coyote.”

From Mr Powers I have also the following vocabu-
laries, which have never before been published.

CAHROO, MEIDOO. PALEGAWONAP,
Man awans midoo anghanil
Woman ' asicitiwa catee coyeem
Sun coosooda pocum tahl
reba pi tisan caweh serwahl ,
og cheshee seyu poongoo
Water ahs momeh pahl
Stone ass ohm tuhnt
Fire alih sum uoat
Head huchwa onum oénte
Mouth apman cumbo tawkunte
Hand teeik ma mah
Big nuckishnuck haylin
Little neenums wedaka
To eat ohfmt pin
To give tanneéh meéy
To work ickeeaht tawale
MEEWOC. YOCUT. NEESHENAM.

Man Meewa nono neeshenam or maidee
Woman Osuh mokella ciilleh
Sun Watoo ope ophy
Earth Toleh hoocheh cow
Dog Chookoo chehca sooh
Water Kikuh ilic moh
Stone Sawa sileh oam

e Wookeh osit sah
Head Hanna oochuh tsoll
Mouth Awoh samah sim
Hand Tissuh OONnose mah
Big Oyaneh oteh nem
Little Toonchickche colich hunum
To eat Sowuh hateh pap
To give wahneh meh
To work tawhaleh towhan

Information regarding the languages spoken where
the city of San Francisco now stands, and throughout
the adjacent country, is meagre, and of a very indefinite
character. On the shores of San Francisco Bay,
there are the languages spoken by the Matalans, Salses,
and Quirotes, which are dialects of one mother language.”

37 ‘Dans la baie de San Francisco on distingue les tribus des Matalans,
Salsen et Quirotes, dont les langues dérivent d’une souche commune.’
degag 4 Pol., tom. i., pp. 321-2; Mithlenpfordt, Mejico, tom. ii, pt

.» p. 454,

aidee

DIALECTS OF THE RUNSIEN AND ESLENE

658

This language has by some been called the Olhone, and
although other dialects are mentioned as belonging to it,
it is generally stated that but one general language was
spoken by all of them.” Southward, near Monterey,
there are more positive data. Here we find as the prin-
cipal languages, the two spoken by the Runsiens and
Eslenes; besides which, the Ismuracan and Aspianaque
are mentioned.”

But although they are called distinct languages,
Taylor affirms that the Eslenes, Sakhones, Chalones,
Katlendarukas, Poytoquis, Mutsunes, Thamiens, and
many others, spoke different dialects of the Runsien lan-
guage, and that over a stretch of country one hundred and
seventy miles in length, the natives were all able to con-
verse with greater or less facility with each other, and that
although “their dialects were infinitesimal and puzzling,
their vocal communications were intelligible enough
when brought together at the different missions.” La
Pérouse’s Achastliens and Ecclemachs are probably
nothing more than other names for some of the above-
mentioned dialects.”

% ‘The tribe of Indians which roamed over this great valley, from San
Francisco to near San Juan Bautista Mission... were the Olhones. Their
language slightly resembled that spoken by the Mutsuns, at the Mission of
San Juan Bautista, although it was by no means the same.’ Hall's San
José, p. 40. ‘In the single mission, Santa Clara more than twenty lan-
guages are spoken.’ Kotzebue’s New Voy., vol. ii., p. 98; Kotzebue’s Voyage,
vol. iii., p. 51; Beechey’s Voyage, vol. ay P 78; Choris, Voy. Pitt., pt iii., pp.
5-6; Conder’s Mex. Guat., vol. ii., pp. 94-5.

9 ‘Ln misma diferencia que se advierte en los usos y costumbres de una
y otra nacion hay en sus idiomas,’ Sutil y Mexicani, Viage, p. 172.

30 * Each tribe has a different dialect; and though their districts are small,
the languages are sometimes so different that the neighbouring tribes cannot
understand each other. I have before observed that in the Mission of San
Carlos there are eleven different dialects.’ Beechey’s Voyage, vol. ii., p. 73.
‘La langue de ces habitans (Ecclemachs) différe absolument de toutes
celles de leurs voisins; eile a méme plus de rapport avec nos langues Europé-
ennes qu’avec celles de l’Amérique. ...L’idiome de cette nation est d’ailleurs
plus riche que celui des autres peuples de la Californie.’ La Pérouse, Voy,.,
tom, ii., pp. 324-326. ‘La partie septentrionale de la Nouvelle-Californie est
habitée par les deux nations de Rumsen et Escelen. Elles parlent des lan-

es entiérement différentes.’ Humboldt, Essai. Pol., tom.i., p. 321. ‘Beyde
arstellungen derselben sind, wie man aus der so bestimmten Erklirun
beider Schriftsteller, dass diese zwey Vilker die Bevélkerung jener Gegen
ausmachen, schliessen muss, ohne Zweifel unter verschiedenen Abtheilungen
Eines Volkes aufgefasst, unter dessen Zweigen die Dialekte, ungeregelt, wie
sie sind leicht grosse Abweichungen von einander zeigen werden.’ Vater,
ot en tom. iii., pt. iii., p. 202; Taylor, in Cal. Farmer, Feb. 22, Apr,
.

654 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

Not only do all these before-mentioned languages show
a relationship one with another, but there are faint
resemblances detected between them and the Olhone
language of San Francisco Bay. Furthermore, between
the latter and the language spoken at La Soledad Mission,
as well as that of the Olamentkes of Russian River, which
I have already classed with the Pomo family, there are
faint traces of relationship.

MUTSUN. LA SOLEDAD. RBUNSIEN. ACHASTLIEN.
One hemethscha _himi{tsa enjalé moukala
Two usthrgin utshe ultis outis
Three cap jan hapkha kappei capes
Four uthrit utjit ultizim outiti
Five parnes paruash hali izi is
Father appa nikApa appan
Mother anan nikana n
Daughter ca nika kaana
Nose us us
Ears ocho otsho
Mouth jai hai a1

A further confirmation of this relationship is found in
the statement of the first missionary Fathers, who
traveled overland from Monterey to San Francisco, and
who, although at that time totally unacquainted with
these languages, recognized resemblances in certain
words.” The dialect spoken at the Mission of Santa
Clara has been preserved to us only in the shape of the
Lord’s Prayer which follows:

Appa macréne mé saura saraahtiga elecpuhmen im-
ragat, sacan macréne mensaraah assueiy nouman ourun
macari pireca numa ban saraathtiga poluma macréne
souhaii naltis anat macréne neéna, ia annanit macréne
nieena, ia annanit macréne macrec équetr maccari nou-
mabai mare annan, nou maroté, jassemper macréne in
eckoué tamouniri innam tattahné ‘ atrarca oniet macréne
equets naccaritkoun oun och 4 Jésus.”

31 * Es erhellt aber aus den Zahlwértern und anderen Wortern, dass die
Sprache von la Soledad, der der Runsien nahe gleich und der der Achastlier

niich ist.’ Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr., p. 561; ‘Turner, in Hist.
Maq., vol. i., p. 206.

32 ‘En estos indios reparé que entendian mas que otros los términos de
Monterey y entend{ muchos términos de lo que hablaban .. El dici¢ndome
meapam tu eres mi padre, que es la misma palabra que usan los de
Monterey.’ Palou, Noticias, in Doc. Hist Mex., série iv., tom. vii., pp.
62-3, 59, 65, 67, 69.

33 Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 392.

> Pye

MUTSUN GRAMMAR. 655

Of the Mutsun dialect I give the following grammati-
cal notes. Words of this language do not contain the
letters 6, d, &, f, v. x, and the rolling r.

DECLENSION OF THE WORD APPA, FATHER.
SINGULAR. PLURAL.

appa appagma

appa appagma

appahuas appagmahuas
apagamase

appagma
lnatete {or appatca ethiebunntas jor appamatca
PP or appame ppagm or appagmane

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB ARA, TO GIVE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I give, can arf We give, mncse arf

Thou givest, men ar& You give, macan ar4
He gives, nunissia ard They give, nupcan ari
PAST.

I gave (a very short time ago), can itzs ar4n

I gave (a long while ago), can cus ards

I gave (very long ago), can hocs ar&

I gave (from time immemorial), can munna ards

I gave (without mentioning time), can arin

T cave (who knows when), can ards

I gave (sometime ago), can araicun

I gave (already), can aragte
FUTURE.

I shall give (soon), can et (or iete) ard

I shall give (after many days), can iti ar&

I shall give (after many years), can minna arA

I shall have given (perhaps), can pifi aran

IMPERATIVE.
Give me, arat, or aratit
Give thyself, araia
Give him, arai, or arati
Give them, arais
SUBJUNCTIVE.

That I give, cat ard
If I gave, imatcum can arf, or cochop tucne can ari

The language abounds in adverbs, of which I give the
following.

neppe tengis To-morrow aruta
naha Si ete
Immediately ifiaha mi
Never ecue et aru
Never more ecue imi tolon
miste, utin tompe
equitseste Lit cutis
chequen cuti
amane Y ehe
ecue asaha, eres
naha ré

656 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

Adjectives are declined the same as substantives when
they are declined alone; but they differ in their de-
clension from substantives when they are declined in
connection with them, because then they do not change
their terminations, but remain the same in all the cases,
The rules of syntax are intricate and very difficult.

Father Comelias speaks of a language at the Mission
of Santa Cruz, with numerous dialects, in fact so many,
that the language changed nearly every two leagues, and
being at times so divergent, that it was with difficulty
neighboring people could understand one another.® In
the vicinity of the Mission San Antonio de Padua, there
is a language which has been variously named, Tatché,
Telamé, and Sextapay. It appears to be a distinct
language, and Taylor affirms that the people speaking
it could not understand those of La Soledad Mission, thirty
miles north.* In this language the letters 6, d, 7, do
not appear; na expresses the article the, and also this.
There are many different ways of expressing the plural
of nouns. Some add the syllable 7, el, 7, or li, others
insert ¢i, or ¢, while others again add leg, aten, ten, or
teno,as may be seen in the following examples.”

SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Counsellor tayito tayilito
Flame me *che*liya me*che®liliya
Work tacAto taquele*to
My enemy zitcho'n zitcho’ne®]
Brother citol citolanél
Grass ca*tz ca*tza°nél
Man tama tamaten
Mouse e*zzqui*lmog e*zzqui*lmoco*ten
Oven aloconfya alocotinfya
Prison que* luczigne que *luezigtine
Fat cu*pinit cupinitleg
Woman Hixit litzzin
Bone ejacéd ejaclito

34 ¢ Quod quanquam hoc idioma ineloquens videatur et inelegans, in rei
veritate non est ita: est valde copiosum, oblongum, abundans et eloquens.’
anus de la Cuesta, Alphabs Rivulus Obeundus, preface, also, Arroyo de la
Cuesta, Mutsun Grammar, On the cover of the manuscript is the following
important note. ‘Copin de la lengua Mutsun en estilo Catalan 4 causa la
escribié un Catalan. La Castellana usa de la fuerza de la pronunciacion de
letras de otro modo en su alfabeto.’ The Catalans pronounce ch hard, and j
like the Germans.

35 Comelias, in Cal. Farmer, April 5, 1860.
36 Tuylor, in Id., April 27, 1860.

TATCHE GRAMMAR. 657

Cases do not appear to exist, the relations of the nouns
being expressed by particles. Adjectives do not vary to
show gender or degree. Personal pronouns are usually
copulative and included in the verb, whether subject-
ive or objective. Of the use of the possessive pro-
noun the following examples will give the clearest idea:
Brother, citolo; my brother, citol; thy brother, e*tsmitol;
brothers, citolanélo; my brothers, citolanél; thy brothers,
e"tsmitolanel; mother, epjo; thy mother, petsmipeg; house,
ch’iconou; my house, ch’icono’; thy house, zimch"icono;
blood, akata; my blood, ekata; thy blood, cimekata; father,
ecco; my father, tii; thy father, cimic; our father, tatilh;
work, tdcdto; my work, tdcdt; thy work, cimtdcdt; our
work, zatdécdt; your work, zugtdcdt; mine, zeé; thine,
e“tsme’mée; this, na; that, pe*

Verbs have also a plural form. Ca'lom, to teach;
ca”lilom, to teach much, or, to teach many.

SINGULAR. PLURAL,
To desire quia °lep quia °lilep

cacheme cachetem

quenole quenoltec

malaco maloltaco
qui"*tipa’ qui*lipay

VERB AND PRONOUN.

*eca®*lom Give me, me*ya°c
He teaches me, quepa ’ alic Give us, maftiltae
Speak thou to me, _ pssiave He gives us, pe"*ya’e
Speak you to me, pssitac He gives us, paitiltac
To give, peyaco, pe*fco
I love thee, *epe*pa° maqueca
Thou lovest thyself, mimo e*tsme"pa’mapque*co

The following are prepositions: by, zo; in ne"pe*; to
zui, zuiyo, 20; from, ze"pe"; on, zui; within, zine*pa’, A
few examples of adverbs are—here, zopa,; there, ne*pé;
to-day, taha; to-morrow, tixjdy; yesterday, notcieyo.

LORD'S PRAYER.
Za tili, mo quixco ne"pe* limaatnil. An zucueteyem
Our father, thou art in heaven. Hullowed

na etsmatz: antsiejtsitia na ejtmilina, An citaha
the thy name: come the thy kingdom. Be done

natsmalog zui lac* quicha ne*p*e lima. Ma'tiltac taha

thy will on earth as in _— heaven. Give us to-day
Vou, II, 42

658 CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES,

zizalamaget zizucanatel ziczia. Za manimtiltac na
our food our daily. Forgive us the

zanayl, quicha na kac apaninitilico na zananaol. Zi
Debts, as the we forgive them the our debt.

quetza commanatatelnec za alimeta zo na ziuxnia.
Let not us fall into the temptation.

Za no quissili jom zig zumtaylitee. Amen.”
Us from __ evil defend.

Another distinct language is found at and near the
Mission of San Miguel, but of it nothing but a short
vocabulary taken by Mr Hale is known. The language
spoken at San Gabriel and at San Fernando Rey, called
Kizh, and the Netela used at San Juan Capistrano, I
shall not describe here, but include them with the Sho-
shone family, to which they are related. The Cheme-
huevi and Cahuillo I also place among the Shoshone dia-
lects, while the Diegefio and Comeya will be included in
the Yuma family. It therefore only remains for me to
speak of the languages of the islands near the coast of
California. Of these, the principal, or mother language,

was spoken on the island of SantaCruz. The different
tribes inhabiting the various islands all spoke dialects of
one language, which was somewhat guttural. I insert
a short vocabulary of the Santa Cruz Island language
with that of the Mission of San Miguel.

SAN MIGUEL. SANTA CRUZ ISLAND.

Man loaf, or loguai alamuiin
Woman tlené hemutch
Father tata ceske
Mother apai osloe
Head tobuko pe ulaoah
Hair teasakho ooll
Ears tentkhito pasthoo
Eyes trugento tisplesoose
outh treliko asaotch
One tohi smala
Two kogsu ischum
Three tlobahi maseghe
Four kesa scumoo

37 Siar, Vocabulario de la M. de San Antonio. The orthography em-
pioyet y Father Sitjar is very curious; accents, stars, small letters above or
elow the line, and various other marks are constantly used; but no expla-
nation of these have been found inthe MS. I have therefore, as far as posi-
he pen the original style of writing. See also Mofras, Explor,, tom.
» Pp. 392-3.

SAN MIGOEL AND SANTA CRUZ VOCABULARY.

SAN MIGUEL. SANTA CRUZ ISLAND.
oldrato sietisma

jiate sietischum
epa sietmasshugh
sratel malawah
teditrup spah
trupa kascum 38

38 Hale’s Ethnog., in U. S. Ee. Ea., vol. vi., pp. 633-4; Taylor, in Cal.
Farmer, May 4, 1860.

CHAPTER V.

SHOSHONE LANGUAGES.

Aztrc-Sonora CONNECTIONS WITH THE SHOSHONE Faminy—Tue Uran, Co-
MANCHE, Mogut, Kizu, Neteta, Kecu1, Canvuri..o, aND CHEMEHUEVI—
EasteERN AND WESTERN SHOSHONE, OR WIHINASHT—-THE BANNACK AND
Diaarr, ok SHosHOKEE—THE Utan AnD 1Ts DratEcts—THE Gosnvtr,
Wasuok, Patu.rk, Prue, Samprrcue, AND Mono—Popru.ar BELIEF As TO
THE AztEC ELEMENT IN THE NortHo—Grimm’s Law—SuosnHoner, Coman-

CHE, AND Moqur CoMPARATIVE TABLE—NETELA Stanza—KizH Grammar

Tur Lorp’s Prayer tn Two DIALEcTs oF THE K1zH—CHEMEHUEVI AND

OaHUILLO GRAMMAR—COMPARATIVE VOCABULARY,

Ih. this chapter I include all the languages of the
Shoshone family, the Wihinasht or western Shoshone
of Idaho and Oregon, the Utah with its many dialects,
the Comanche or Yetan of Texas and New Mexico, the
Mequi of Arizona, the Kizh, Netela, and Kechi of the
San Fernando Mission, and their dialects, and the Ca-
huillo and Chemehuevi of south-eastern California. The
six last mentioned do not properly belong to the Sho-
shone family, but on account of certain faint traces of
Aztec, found alike in them and in all Shoshone idioms,
I cannot do better than to speak of them in this connec-
tion. As regards this Aztec element, I do not mean to
say that these languages are related to the Aztec language,
in the same sense th ‘+t other languages are spoken of as
being related to each other, for this might lead those
who are searching for the former habitation or fatherland
(660)

num
Sam)
little
to tre
lects

Lem
Sampite
ine nor
angua
Shouhio
.... the
the Con
ou Serp

SHOSHONE AND UTAH DIALECTS. 661

of the Aztecs, to suppose that it has been found. This
element consists simply in a number of words, identical
or reasonably approximate to the like Aztec words, and
in the similarity, perhaps, of a few grammatical rules,
How this Aztec word-material crept into the languages
of the Shoshones, whether by intercommunication, or
Aztec colonization, we donot know. Nor doI wish to be
understood as attempting to sustain the popular theory
of an Aztec migration from the north; on the contrary,
the evidence of language is all on the other side.
Whether or not the Great Basin, or any part of the
Northwest, was once occupied by the ancient Mexicans,
it is certain that the Aztec language, as a base, is found
nowhere north of central Mexico, so that these incidental
or accidental word-analogies if they prove anything,
indicate only a scattering from some primeval centre,
other than the place where they are found, and tend to
show that the language whose words are thus thinly
sprinkled over so broad an area, could not have been
the aboriginal stock language of the country.

The Shoshone and the Utah are: the principal lan-
guages of the great interior basin; and these may be re-
garded as sisters of a common mother language, the
Shoshone preponderating. Hach has many dialects.
The Shoshone language may be divided into eastern, or
Shoshone proper, and western Shoshone, or Wihinasht.
Of the former the Bannack, and the Digger, or Shoshokee,
are the chief variations. The Utah dialects more
numerous, are the Goshute, Washoe, Paiulee, Piute,
Sampitche, Mono, and a few others, which latter vary so
little from some one of the others, that it is unnecessary
to trace them as separate dialects. The Comanche dia-
lects shall not attempt vw classify.’ No grammar has

1'Tne Shoshént and Pdnasht (Bonnaks) of the Columbia, the Yutes and
Sampitehes ...the Commanches of Texas, and some other tribes along
the northern frontier of Mexico, are said to speak dialects of a common
language.’ Hale’s Ethnog., in U. 8. Hw. Ew., vol. vi., pp. 218-9. ‘The great
Shoshonee, or Snake, family: which comprehends the Shoshones proper
....the Utahs....Pah-Utahs... the Kizh....the Netela....the Kechi....
the Comanches,’ Turner, in Pac. R. R, Rept., vol. iii., p. 76. ‘ Shoshdnies
ou Serpents et de Soshocos ou Deéterreurs de racines parlent la méme

662 SHOSHONE LANGUAGES.

ever been written of any of these languages. In all of
them words are generally accented on the first syllable,
except when a possessive pronoun is prefixed. Words
of more than four syllables, generally have a secondary
accent on the fifth, as in ¢é-ith-tis-chi-hd-no, valley. A
few words in these languages are found almost identi-
cal with like words of the Tinneh family, which have
probably found their way into them by intercommuni-

langue.’ De Smet, Voy., p. 126. ‘The Shoshone language is spoken
mostly by all the bands of Indians in southeastern Nevada.’ Parker,
in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1866, p. 114. ‘Their language (Shoshones) is very
different from that of either the Bannocks, or Pi-Utes.’ Campbell, in
Id., p. 120. Goshautes speak the same language as Shoshones. Forney,
in it, 1859, p. 363. ‘The language is spoken by bands in the gold
mine region of the Sacramento.’ Schooleraft’s Arch., vol. i., p. 198. ‘ Pai-
uches speak the same language as the Yutas.’ Farnham’s Life in Cal.,
p. 371, 375. ‘ Pi-Edes, allied in language to the Utahs.’ Cooley, in Ind. Aff.
Nept., 1865, p.18. Goships, or Gosha Utes ‘talk very nearly the Shoshonee
language.’ Irish, in Id., p. 144. Shoshones and Comanches ‘both speak the
same language.’ Sampiches. ‘Their language is said to be allied to that of
the Snakes.’ Youtas. ‘Their language is by some thought to be peculiar.’
Wilkes’ Nar., in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol.iv., p.501. ‘ Pueblan todas las partes de
esta sierra por el sueste, sur sudoeste y oeste, gran niimero de gentes de la
misma nacion, idioma etc.,’ which they call Timpanogotzis. Dominguez and Es-
calante, in Doc. Hist, Mew., série ii., tom. i., p. 467, ‘‘The language spoken by
the Comanches is of great antiquity, and differs but little from that of the In-
cas of Peru,’ Maillard’s Hist. Tex., p. 249; Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr.,
PP. 349, 351. ‘Yam-pah. ‘This is what the Snakes call the Comanches, of
which they are either the parents or descendants, for the two languages are
nearly the same, and they readily understand each other, and say that they
were once one people.’ ‘The Snake language is talked and understood by all
the tribes from the Rocky mountains to California, and from the Colorado to
the Columbia, and by a few in many tribes outside of these limits.’ Stuart's
Montana, pp. 58, 82. ‘The different bands of the Comanches and Shoshonies
or Snakes, constitute another extensive stock, speaking one language.’ Greqg’s
Com. Prairies, vol. ii., p. 251. ‘The vernacular language of the Yutas is
said to be distantly allied to that of the Navajoes, but it has appeared to me
much more guttural, having a deep sepulchral sound resembling ventrilo-
quism.’ Jd., vol. i., p. 300. ‘The Utahs, who speak the same language
as the Kyaways.’ Conder’s Mex. Guat., vol. ii., p. 74; Schooleraft’s Arch.,
vol. v., p. 197. The Goshutes are of different language from the Shoshones.
Douglas, in Ind, Aff. Rept., 1870, p. 96. Diggers, ‘differ from the other
Snakes somewhat in language.’ is iy in Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol. i., p. 206;
Berghaus, in Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr., p. 371. The Kusi-Utahs,
‘in speaking they clipped their words. ...we recognized the sounds of the
language of the Shoshones.’ Remy and Brenchley’s Journey, vol. ii., p. 412;
Thiimmel, Mesxilco, p. 359; Catlin’s N. Amer. Ind, vol, ii, p. 113, ‘Their
native language (Comanches), in sound differs from the language of any
other nation, and no one can easily learn to speak it. They have also a
language of age, by which they converse among themselves.’ French’s
., (N. ¥. 1869), p. 156. ‘The primitive terms of the Comanches

are short, and several are combined for the expression of complex ideas.
The vangoags is very barren of verbs, the functions of which are frequently
erformed by the aid of gestures and grimaces,’ Kennedy’s Texas, vol.i., p.

* Turner, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii, p. 77.

searcl
amon
dense
that
the R

ers in

3 Bus
4 Td.,,

Hregg’s
tas 18
to me
ntrilo-
guage
Arch.,

ones.
other
bh. 206;
tahs,
of the
bh, 412;
Their
bf any
also a
meh's
nches
ideas.
ently
i, P:

SHOSHONE AND TINNEH SIMILARITIES. 668

cation. Of these the following are the principal ones,
so far as designated by existing vocabularies.

Fire: Comanche, ku-ona; Shoshone, kuna; Chepewy-
an, counn, kon, kone; Utah, coon. Bow: Comanche, eth;
Shoshone, atsché; Wihinasht, ati; Chepewyan, atheike.
Cold: Comanche, etscho; Shoshone, é¢schoin; Wihinasht,
izits; Chepewyan, edzah. Hye: Comanche, nachich; Che-
pewysan, nackhay.®

In the Wihinasht, words occur sometimes in which
an unusual number of vowels are combined,—padatu,
great; long words are also not infrequent, like pima-
tiyimwaidhkin, salt. A short comparative vocabulary to
show the connection between these languages, is given
further on.

Let us now consider the often discussed but ill under-
stood question of the Aztec language in the north.
Torquemada and Vetancurt narrate the expedition of
Juan de Ojiate, who invaded New Mexico during the
last years of the sixteenth century. Father Roque de
Figueredo, who accompanied the expedition, says that
while searching for a lost mule, at the Rio del Tizon,
the Mexican muleteers met certain natives who ad-
dressed them in their own language, and who, on
being asked whence they came, answered that they
came from the north, where that language was spoken.
Clavigero, who repeats the above, also asserts, that
during the expedition made by the Spaniards, in
1606, to New Mexico, when north of the Rio del Tizon,
they saw some large houses, and near them certain na-
tives who spoke the Mexican language. Then we have
the statement of Father Gerdnimo de Zarate, that while
searching for the Laguna de Copala, he was informed,
among other things, that the country in its vicinity was
densely peopled by men who spoke a language similar to
that of his Aztec servants. Zarate was at this time at
the Rio del Tizon, and ,the natives, who are close observ-
ers in such matters, assured the Spaniards that they

3 Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr., pp. 402-3,
4 Id., p. 645, et seq.

664 SHOSHONE LANGUAGES.

detected in the speech of the servant certain words
common to both his own and the language of the people
of the Laguna de Copala. And again, in the region
toward the east, Acosta says that “of late they have
discovered a new land, which they call New Mexico,
where they say is much people that speake the Mexican
tongue.”

Vater, in his Mithridates, intimates that the Mexican
language spread far northward, through the roamings of
wild tribes, particularly the Chichimecs; but when we
remember that the term Chichimee was applied by the
early Spaniards to all the immense unknown nomadic
hordes north and west, this mention carries with it but
little weight. Mr Anderson, who accompanied Captain
Cook to the north-west coast, in 1778, fancied he de-
tected a resemblance between the Aztec and the language
of the Nootkas. ‘“T'rom the few Mexican words,” he
says, “I have been able to procure, there is the most ob-
vious agreement, in the very frequent terminations of
the vowels in l, tl or 2, throughout the language.” And
remarks the editor, ‘ ‘may we not, in confirmation of Mr.
Anderson's remark, observe. that Opulszthl, the Nootka
name of the Sun; and Vitziputzli, the name of the Mexi-
can Divinity, have no very distant affinity in sound.”
Now the absurdity of all idle speculations is apparent
when we encounter such far-fetched comparisons as
this. In the first place, there is no affinity in the sounds
of the two words, and in the next place there is no
such Aztec god,—Huitzilopochtli probably being the god
meant. Neither has this last word any resemblance to
the sun; it is composed of the two words, Auitzilin, an
abbreviation of the Mexican /uitzitzilin, which signifies
‘humming-bird,’ and of opochdli, that is to say ‘left.’ Vater
also draws analogies between the Aztec and the Nootka,
and Ugalenze, which on close comparison do not hold
good,

Regarding the affinity of the Aztec language with
those of the Pueblos, Moquis, Apaches, Yumas, and
others of New Mexico and Arizona, Ruxton ventures

— eo. lee

pute bute

pea
bee}
coul
kk
Cor;
port
and
peric
wer
H
Tara

WM

an
of
we
the
dic
but
ain
de-
age
he

AZTEC TRACES NORTH OF MEXICO. 665

the assertion, “‘all these speak dialects of the same lan-
guage.... They likewise all understand each other's
tongue. What relation this language bears to the
Mexican is unknown; but my impression is, that it
will be found to assimilate greatly, if not to be ident-
ical,”’—in all of which assertions Mr Ruxton is greatly
in error.

All this, as evidence, does not amount to much; it
only indicates the origin of a popular belief which placed
« Mexican language in various parts of the north, while
at the same time it shows upon how slender a thread
hangs this belief, and how the vaguest traditionary ru-
mors come, by repetition, to be accredited as fixed
facts.

Buschmann asks himself the question whether the
Aztec words, in any considerable number, are not found
in any other languages of the great Mexican empire,—in
the Zapotec, Miztec, Tarasco, Otom{, or Huastec,—and the
answer is no; he has discovered a few accidental word-
similarities, such as may be found between the Aztec
and other American languages, or between any two lan-
guages of the world, but nothing which, by any possi-
bility, could denote relationship.

From another class of evidence we approach a little
nearer the truth. Andres Perez de Ribas, missionary
to Sinaloa writing about 1640, says, that while studying
the language of his people, he noticed many Mexican
words particularly radicals, and also words which ap-
peared to have been originally Mexican, but which had
been so altered that only one or two syllables in them
could be recognized as Aztec.

Father Ortega, in 1732, wrote a vocabulary of the
Cora language, in which he says, the people had incor-
porated in their language many words of the Mexican
and some few of the Spanish languages, and this at a
period so early that at the time of his writing they
were regarded as belonging to the original language.

Hervas, whose work appeared in 1787, says that the
Tarahumara language is full of Mexican words. Vater,

~ $$ CN

LT A A ED

666 SHOSHONE LANGUAGES.

writing early in the nineteenth century, affirms that the
Cora is remarkable for its relation to the Mexican, and
that the Tarahumara, which is a more polished language
than its neighbors, contains some words similar to the
Aztec. In his Mithridates, Vater notices a relationship
between the Cora and the Aztec, furthermore asserting
that the conjugations of the two are so alike as plainly
to prove the connection.

Wilhelm von Humboldt left us a short manuscript
grammar of the Cora and Tarahumara, in which he re-
marks that for languages which are related, the Cora
and the Mexican have great differences in their sound-
systems, and although these two languages certainly ap-
pear to be related, yet he is unwilling to assert that
either is derived from the other. ‘There are more
ways than one,” says the great philologist Wilhelm von
Humboldt, ‘“‘by which languages are connected. The
impression left upon me by the Cora, 1s that it is a mix-
ture of two different languages: one the Mexican, and
the other some older and richer language, but rougher.
In the grammar of the Cora there are found very many
forms which strikingly call to mind the Mexican, yet at
the same time there are many forms wholly different,
made by rules directly opposite, among which are the
pronouns.” He further remarks two other important
differences between the Cora and the Mexican which
are the absence of the reduplication of syllables and of
the reverential forms.

Such was the attitude of the subject when Mr Busch-
mann took it up. From the prevailing impression of an
Aztec origin in the north, but more particularly from
certain remarks of Alexander von Humboldt concerning
the probable passing of the ancient Mexicans through
the regions of the north, he set himself to work to find
this line of migration, and the exact relations of their
their language in various parts. Commencing at the
Valley of Mexico he made a careful analysis of every
western language north of that place of which he could
obtain any material. The result of Mr Buschmann’s

wes
tric!
the
tend
ular
Te
a
Oroz
para
the (
sha
the
huan
centr
spoke
Gulf
and ¢
forty
mara,
is app
not to
to the
Cahita
de la C
called
ince of
latter «
ulary ¢
Nouvel
words,
others,
materi
the Cor
huana ji

AZTEC TRACES IN NORTHERN MEXICO. 667

researches was the discovery of Aztec traces in certain
parts, but nowhere did he find the Aztec language as a
base.

More particularly were these Aztec words and word-
analogies perceptible in four certain languages of north-
western Mexico; in the Cora, spoken in the Nayarit dis-
trict of Jalisco, commencing about fifteen leagues from
the coast at the mouth of the Rio Tololotlan, and ex-
tending between the parallels 21°30’ and 20° back irreg-
ularly into the interior about twenty leagues; in the
Tepehuana of northern Sinaloa, northern Durango, and
southern Chihuahua, or as laid down on the map of
Orozco y Berra, commencing near the twenty-third
parallel about twenty leagues from the eastern shore of
the Gulf of California, and extending over a horse-shoe
shaped territory to about the twenty-seventh parallel; in
the Tarahumara spoken immediately north of the Tepe-
huana in the states of Chihuahua and Sonora, in the
centre of the Sierra Madre; and lastly in the Cahita
spoken by the people inhabiting the eastern shore of the
Gulf of California, between latitude 26° and 28° north,
and extending back from the coast irregularly about
forty leagues, being almost directly west of the Tarahu-
mara, though not exact'y contiguous. The name Cahita
is applied by the missionaries only to the language, and
not to the people speaking it. In the license prefixed
to the Manual para administrar a los Indios del idioma
Cahita los santos sacramentos compuesto por un Sacerdote
de la Compania de Jesus, printed in Mexico in 1740, it is
called the common language of the missions of the prov-
ince of Sinaloa, spoken by the Yaquis and the Mayos, the
latter extending far into southern Sonora. In a vocab-
ulary of the Cahita given by Ternaux-Compans, in the
Nouvelles Annales, there are likewise found many Aztec
words, Neither of these languages are related to the
others, yet in all of them is a sprinkling of Aztec word-
material. The Aztec substantive ending ¢/ and ¢h, in
the Cora are found changed in ti, te, and ¢; in the Tepe-
huana into de, re, and sci; in the Tarahumara into ki, ke,

668 SHOSHONE LANGUAGES.

ca, and Ja; and in the Cahita, into ri. In all four of
the languages substantive endings are dropped, first,
in composition when the substantive is united with the
possessive pronoun; secondly, before an affix; thirdly, in
the Cora alone, before the ending of the plural; and
before affixes in the formation of words. They are not
dropped in verbs derived from substantives; and when
two substantives are combined to form a word the
Aztec terminal is dropped in the first, and also in the
combination of a substantive and verb.

In the Cora, the ending tyahta has the same meaning
as the Aztec local ending ¢la, or tlan, which signifies the
locality of a thing; as, acotn, a fir-tree; (Aztec, ocotl)
ocotyahta, a fir-forest; (Aztec, ocotlan). Another striking
similarity between these four languages and the Aztec,
consists in the use of a postfix in the formation of sub-
stantives of locality and names of places. Then come
the numerals, in which are found similarities in all their
formations. The Aztec verb ca, to be, and even its
irregular branch, catqui, is found disseminated through-
out all these languages. In the Tarahumara dictionary
of Steffel, and in the Cora dictionary of Ortega, Busch-
mann found the Aztec element even stronger than he
had supposed, and he wondered how Gallatin, who had
Tellechea’s grammar, could have allowed these similari-
ties to escape his observations.

Of these four languages Buschmann makes what he
calls his Sonora family; which term is somewhat a mis-
nomer as applied to languages not related, and spoken
more without than within the province of Sonora. Their
only bond of union is this Aztec element, which may
have found its way into them at different times and
under different circumstances. ‘Tle most peculiar fea-
ture of it all, is the departure which is made by these
Aztec-Sonora lang ‘ages, as from an original centre,
and their several : ‘pearance, each stamped alike with
Aztec marks while. the same time sustaining its own
individuality, in difi vent parts of the great northern
regions. Itis as tho -h a handful of Aztec words had

5 “Que
principaln
0 se deriu:
aqui vn m
mera que |
Mexicana:
muchos de
‘ Pintaron
hablar 4 u
guntaron |
taba de al
iii., tom.
que hizo «
que aviend
contraron |]

tado de do
del Norte a
deatro Bea:
1606, dal »
seicento mi
edificj, es’ ;
Clavigero, §
gua abboné
‘ 71, ‘Die s
nischen me

Ausbildung

AZTEC MATERIAL IN THE AZTEC-SONORA FAMILY. 669

been thrown, at intervals, into the languages of each of
these four peoples, and, after partial amalgamations
of these foreign words with those of the aboriginal
tongues, by some means the words so modified had found
their way in greater or less quantities into the lan-
guages of other and remote tribes. It is at such times,
when we obtain a glance from a distance at their
shadowy history, that there arise in the mind visions of
their illimitable unwritten past, and of the mighty tur-
moils and revolutions which must forever remain as
they are, shrouded in the deepest n-ystery.

In these four Aztec-Sonora langu:.ges there are nearly
two hundred Aztec words, and the words derived from
them by the respective native idioms into which they
were projected, swell the list to four times that number;
and these, with other pure Aztec words in every stage
of mutilation and transformation are found re-scattered
throughout the before-mentioned Pueblo, Shoshone, and
other languages of the north. But again, let me say,
nowhere does the Aztec, or any of its affiliations appear
as a base north of central Mexico.’

5 * Que en casi todas ellas (que son muchas y varias) se hallan vocablos,
principalmente los que llaman radicales, que o son de la lengua Mexicana,
0 se deriuan della, y retienen muchas de sus silabas, de que pudiera hazer
aqui vn muy largo catalago. De todo lo qual se infieren dos cosas. La pri-
mera que casi tocas estas Naciones comunicaron en puestos y lenguas con la
Mexicana: y aunyue los Artes y Gramaticas dellas son diferentes; pero en
muchos de sus preceptos concuerdan.’ Ribas, Hist. de los Trivmphos, p. 20.
‘Pintaron esta laguna en tierra y muy poblada de gentes, y oyendo
hablar 4 un indio, criado de un soldado, en el idioma mexicano, pre-
guntaron si era de Copula, porque asi hablaban los de alla.. que dis-
taba de allf diez jornadas pobladas.’ Zarate, in Doc. Hist. Mex., série
iii., tom. iv., p. 83. ‘El Padre Fr. Roque d Figueredo haze del viage
que hizo con D. Iuan de Onate 506 leguas al Norte hallaremos que dice,
que aviendoseles perdido vnas bestias, buscandolas el rio de Tizon arriba en-
contraron los mosos vn Indio que les habld en lengua mexicana que pregun-
tado de donde era, dixo ser del Reyno adentro....que esti enlas Provincias
del Norte donde se habla en esta lengua Mexicana cuyo es vocablo.’ Vetancurt,
deatro BMex., ptii., p. 11. ‘In un viaggio, che fecero gli Spagnuoli l’anno
1606, dal Nuovo Messico fino al fiume, che eglino appellarouo del Tizon,
seicento miglia da quella Provincia verso Maestro, vi trovarono aleuni grandi
edificj, e s’nbbatterono in alenni Indiani, che parlavano la lingua messicana.’
Clavigero, Storia Ant. dei Messico, tom., iv., p. 29. Tarahumara ‘la cui lin-
gua abbonda di parole Messicane.’ Hervas, Saggio Pratico delle Linqgue, p.
71. ‘Die Sprache (Cora) ist auch wegen ihres Verhiiltnisses zur Mexica-
nischen merkwiirdig.’ ‘Die Sprache (Tarahumara) welche eine gewisse
Ausbildung zeigt, hat manche dem Mexicanischen ahnliche Wérter,’ Vater,

670 SHOSHONE LANGUAGES.

Taking into consideration that some Aztec and Sho-
shone words are aimost identical, and that the endings
of others are almost exactly alike, it is not surpris-
ing if the acute ear of the natives detected phonetic
resemblances, ‘The connection between these languages
may not be in one respect as positive as that between
the languages which compose the great Aryan family
on the Asiatic and European continents, but, on the
other hand, it presents a somewhat analogous system, by
means of which it becomes possible to establish a con-
nection. I allude to Mr Grimm’s discovery of what has
been termed ‘ Lauutverschiebung, or ‘ Lautvertinderung,’

anglicé ‘Sound-shunting.’®

This phenomenon consists of the changing, or shunting,
of certain vowels or consonants in the words of one lan-
guage, into certain other vowels and consonants in the
same wordsof another language; and this not accidentally,
but in accordance with fixed rules. Sound-shunt-
ing, originally discovered by Mr Grimm in the Aryan
tongues, has also been found by Mr Buschmann in the
languages of his Sonora family, where it is more par-
ticularly prominent in the word-endings. in a subse-
quent place | shall have occasion to refer again to this
point, and particularly when speaking of the North
Mexican languages, the Tarahumara, Tepehuana, Cora,
and Cahita, where it can be clearly shown by compari-
son with the Aztec, that such shunting, or changing, has
taken place. In the languages at present under consid-
eration, the Shoshone, U tah, and Comanche, we have
this shunting system illustrated in the substantives and
adjective endings p, pa, pe, pi, be, wa, ph, pee, rp, and rpe;
and more particularly in the Utah and Shoshone ¢ ts, tse,
tsi, all of which nay be referred to the Aztec endings tl,
ti, and others, In the last-mentioned case the endings
have been preserved in a purer form, while in the former

Litteratur der Grammatiken, Lextca und Worter-Sammlungen aller Sprachen der

cag pp. 52, 231; Cook's Voy, to Pac., vol. ii, p. 336; Ruaton'’s Adven.
ew., p. 194,

6 Max Miiller simply names it ‘Grimm's Law.’ Science of Language,
series ii, p. 213, et seq.

the
ing
sid
thr
a sl
obs
7
lon;
witl
cate
in w
of a
diffe
shou
not;
shon
that
langu
Tegu:
spoke
Moqu
they }
Tegua

7In
Verwanc
sonorise
kann ich
aztekisel
lung awis
ihr sich
2wiefache
diusserste
tiges eigi
Erbtheil ¢
xara ang
seines Vo
rischen B
et seq.; 8
8 ‘ The
town of ¢
to itself,’ |
the same
one Moqu

Schooler

Iv,,
Orie 80
what was

THE MOQUI LANGUAGE. 671

the shunting or changing law is observed. As illustrat-
ing the connection between the languages under con-
sideration and those before mentioned of Sonora and
through them with the Aztec, I append on the next page
a short vocabulary in which the similarities can be easily
observed."

The Moqui, as before observed, does not properly be-
long to the Shoshone family, but shows a connection
with the Aztec. It is strange that two permanently lo-
cated peoples, the Moquis and the Pueblos, both living
in well-built towns not far apart, and both showing signs
of a budding civilization, should speak languages totally
different from each other; that one of these languages
should show « connection with the Aztec and the other
not; that neither is related to the tongue of the Sho-
shones, who nearly surround them; and, furthermore,
that in six of the seven Moqui towns only, the Moqui
language is spoken, while in the seventh, Harno, the
Tegua, a language of one of the New Mexican Pueblos is

spoken. The people of Harno can converse with the
Moquis of the six other towns, but among theniselves
they never make use of the Moqui, always speaking the
Tegua,®

7 *Indem ich die Urtheile wegen der comanchischen und schoschonischen
Verwandsehaft bestitige, erkliire ich die Yutah-Sprache fiir ein Glied des
sonorischen Sprachstammes.’ ‘Noch ehe ich zur Wortvergleichung tibergehe,
kann ich die sonorische Natur der Sprache nach den beiden Elementen der
aztekischen und sonorischen Gemeinschaft, und sogar ihre besondere Stel-
lung zwischen der comanche-schoschonischen Ligue, durch blosse zwei, in
ihr sich hervorthuende Substantiv-Endungen (ts und p) darlegea.’ ‘Die
zwiefache Schoschonen Sprache und das Volk der Schoschonen sind das
idiusserste Glied meiner Entdeckungen: des grossen Bundes, durch ein mich-
tiges eignes Element zusammengehaltener Sprachen, von einem kleinen
Erbtheil aztekischen Wortstoffes durchdrungen; welches ich, von Guadala-
xara ans nordwirts suchend nach den Spuren des Azteken-Idioms und
seines Volkes, angetroffen habe; sie bilden den Schlusstein meines sono-
rischen Baues,’ Bushmann, Spurender Aztek. Spr., pp. 349, 351, 648, 391, 652,
et seq.; Sivers, Mittelamerika, pp, 201-2.

8 ‘They all speak the same language except Harno, the most northern
town of the three, which has a language and some custom peculiar
to itself.’ Marcy's Army Life, p. 111. ‘In six of the seven Moqui pueblos,
the same language is said to be spoken,...Those of San Juan....and
one Moqui pueblo all speak the same language....Tay-waugh.’ Lane, in
Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol., v., p. 689; Ten Broeck, in Schooleraft's Arch., vol.
iv, p. 87. ‘The Moquis....do not all speak the same language. At
Oraybe some of the Indians actually professed to be unable to understand
what was said by the Mooshabneh chief, and the latter told me that the lan-

guage of t
tongue ig
each other
mutation

‘ Wie ic

..../pui, umboi

SHOSHONE LANGUAGES.

672

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MOQUI AFFILIATIONS. 673

No grammar has been written of the Moqui language,
and a few vocabularies are all we possess of it. Gov.
Lane, speaking of the Pueblo languagescollectively, writes:
“All these languages are extremely guttural, and, to my
ear, seemed so much alike, that I imagine they have
sprung from the same parent stock.” °

Some claim a relationship between the Moquis and
the Apaches and others, but no such connection has ever
been established.” The only positive statement in this
regard is made by Buschmann, who, by actual compari-
son of vocabularies, has determined its status." Among

guage of the two towns was different. At Tegua they say that a third distinct
tongue is spoken....‘The people....have abandoned the habit of visiting
each other till the languages, which, with all Indian tribes, are subject to great
mutations, have gradually become dissimilar.’ Ives’ Colorado Riv., p. 127.
‘Wie ich erfuhr, sollen die Moquis nicht alle eine und dieselbe Sprache
haben, und die Bewohner einiger Stddte nicht nur fremde Dialekte, sondern
sogar fremde Sprachen reden.’ Méllhuusen, Reisen, tom. ii., p. 239. Davis,
referring to a MS. by Cruzate, a former Governor of New Mexico, maintains
that the Moqui speak the Queres language, but at the same time he says ‘it
is maintained by some that . four of the Moqui villages speak a dialect
very nearly the same as that of the Navajos, while a fifth speaks that of
San Juan, which is Tegua....The distance from Picoris to the Moqui vil-

lazes is about four hundred miles .. yet these way separated pueblos

speak,...the same language.’ El Gringo, IP; 116-7, Comparisons of
the vocabularies in Simpson, Davis, and Meline prove the Moqui to be a
distinct language. Word, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1864; p. 191.

9 Lane, in Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol. v., p. 689.

10*The language of the Méquis, or the Méquinos, is said to differ but
little from that of the Navajos.’ Hughes’ Doniphan's Ex., p: 197. Speaking
of all the Pueblo languages, including the Moqui: ‘ All these speak dialects
of the same language, more or less approximating to the Apache, and of all of
which the idiomatic structure is thesame. They likewise all understand each
other’s tongue. What relation this re ig ears to the Mexican is un-
known, but my impression is that it will be found to assimilate greatly, if
not to be identical.’ Ruwton’s Adven. Mex., p. 194; Gregg’s Vom. Prairies,
vol. i., p. 269,

nt ’No analogy has yet been traced between tle langnaas of the old Mexi-
cans and any tribe at the north in the district from which they are supposed
to have come.’ Bartlett's Pers, Nar., vol. ii., p. 283. ‘Reste der Mexika-
nischen Sprache fanden dagegen in den Sprachen dieser Vilker die im Mexi-
kanischen sehr geiibten Missionire nicht, sondern die Sprache von Moqui,
und die der Vabipais, welche lange Birte tragen, wesentlich unterschieden:
von dem Mexikanischen.’ Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., p. 182. ‘Ce-
pendant la langue que parlent Jes Indiens du Moqui, les Yabipais, qui por-
tent de longue barbes, et ceux qui habitent les plaines voisines du Rio Colo-
rado, différe essentiellement de lo langue mexicaine.’ Humboldt, Essai Pol.,.
tom, i., p. 305. ‘Doch reden die Moquis... pprecuen ganz verschieden vom
Aztekischen.’ Mihlenpfordt, Mejico, tom, ii., ptil., p. 539, ‘ Die Moqui-Sprache
ist doch der mexikanischen befreundet! sie ist—dies ist meine Lrtindung—
ein Zweig des Idioms, welches dem Suchenden als ein Phantom statt des
leibhaften nahuall als sein Schattenbild, in dem alten Norden tiberall entge-
gentritt: ein Gebilde der sonorischen Zunge, bei welchem Namen ein kleines
asteklaches Ebene sich von selbst versteht, ..Ich erkliire die Moqui-

‘OL. III, 43

674 SHOSHONE LANGUAGES.

other connecting links he particularly mentions the sub-
stantive endings pe, be, and others, by means of which, he
says, the Moqui attaches itself to the Shoshone-Comanche
branch of the Sonora idioms. The comparative vocabu-
lary before given will further illustrate their affiliation.”

Returning to southern California, let us examine
the three languages, Kizh, Netela, and Kechi, spoken
near the missions of San Gabriel, San Juan Capistrano,
and San Luis Rey, respectively, which are not only
distantly related to each other, but show traces cf the
Sonora-Aztec idioms. Father Boscana, who has left us
an accurate description of the natives at San Juan Ca-
pistrano, unfortunately devoted little attention to their
language, and only gives us a few scattered words and
stanzas. One of the latter reads as follows:

Quic noit noivam
Quic secat peleblich
Ybicnum majaar vesagnec

Ibi panal, ibi urusar,
Ibi écbal, ibi seja, ibi calcel.

Which may be rendered thus:
I go to my home
That is shaded with willows.
These five they have placed,
This agave, this stone pot,
. This sand, this honey, ‘etc.
But very little is known of the grammatical structure
of these languages. In the Kizh, the plural is formed

in various ways, as may be seen in the following ex-
amples:

SINGULAR, PLURAL.
Man woroit wororoit
House kitsh kikitsh
Mountain haikh hahaikh

Sprache fiir ein Glied meines Sonorischen Sprachstammes. Schon die auf-
fallend vielen, manchmal in vorziiglich reiner Form erscheinenden, azteki-
schen Worter bezeichnen die Sprache als eine sonorische; es kommt das
uweite Kennzeichen hinzu: der Besitz gewisser dcht sonorischer Worter.
In einem grossen 'Theile erscheint die Sprache aber iiberaus fremdartig: um
so mehr als sie auch von den 5 Pueblo-Sprachen, wie schon Simpson be-
merkt hat, ginzlich verschieden ist....Die Spuren der Subst, Endung pe,
be u.é. weisen der Moqui-Sproche ihren Platz unter der comanche-shoshoni-
schen Familie des Sonora Idioms an, Dieses allgemeine Urtheil tiber die
Sprache ist sicher.’ Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr., pp. 289-00.

18 Simpson’s Jour, Mil, Recon., pp. 128-30; Davis’ El Gringo, pp. 157-9.

13 Boscana, in Robinson's Life in Cal., p. 282.

Of tl
mens of
um, sta
walom, |

knees,

My house
Thy house
His house
My boat
Thy boat
His boat

The ]

_ Slightly

nando, a:
two versi
guage of
at San G;
Y yor
majarmi |
Pan yyog
yio mama
coijarmea |

Yyonac
masarmi r

M Hale's Ky
und Netela, pp.

KIZH AND NETELA SPECIMENS.

SINGULAR. PLURAL.

ishot ishishot
tihorwait tiriwait
tehinui tshitshfnui
yupikha yupinot
tokor totokor
pa(tkhuar papaitkhuar
mohai momohai
arawatai rawanot
kwauokha kwaukhonot

DECLENSION WITH PRONOUN.
My father ninak Our father ayoinak
Thy father monak Your father asoinak
His father anak
My house nikin Our house eyoknga
Thy bouse mukin Your house - asoknga
His house akinga Their house pomoknga
Of the Netela there are also the following few speci-
mens of plural formation and pronouns ;—suwol, star; sul-
um, stars; nopulum, my eyes; nanakom, my ears; niki-
walom, my cheeks; natakalom, my hand; netémelum, my
knees.
DECLENSION WITH PRONCUN.

My house niki Our house tshomki
Thy house om aki Your house omomomki
His house poki Their house omp omki

My boat nokh Our boat tshomikh
Thy boat om omikh Your boat omom omikh
His boat ompomikh Their boat ompumikb |

The Kizh appears also to have been spoken, in a
_ slightly divergent dialect, at the Mission of San Fer-
nando, as may be easily seen by comparing the following
two versions of the Lord’s Prayer; the first in the lan-
guage of San Fernando, and the latter in that spoken
at San Gabriel.

Y yorac yona taray tucupuma sagoucéd motoanian
majarmi moin main mond muismi miojor yiactucupar.
Pan yyogin gimiamerin majarmi mifema coyd ogornd
yio mamainay mii, yiarmé ogonug y yond, y yo ocaynen
coijarmea main ytomo mojay coiyamé huerm{f. Parima.

Yyonac y yogin tucupugnaisé sujucoy motuanian
masarm{ magin tucupra maimand mufsme milléosar y

4 Hale's Ethnog., in U. 8. Ee. Ea., vol. vi., pp. 666-7; Buschmann, Kish
und Netela, pp. 512-13.

676 SHOSHONE LANGUAGES.

ya tucupar jiman bx{ y yon{ masaxm{ mftema coy abox-
mi y yo mamainatar momojaich milli y yaxma abonac
y yo no y yo ocaihuc coy jaxmea main itan momosaich
coy jama juexme hueme:nesaich.

In like manner do the Netela and Kechi show a close
affinity. The Netela Lord’s Prayer reads:

Chana ech tupana ave onench, otune a cuachin,
chame om reino, libi yb chosonec esna tupdna cham
nechetepe, micate tom cha chaom, pepsum yg cai cay-
chame, yi julugcalme cai ech. Depupnn opco chame
chum oyote. Amen Jésus.

The Kechi is as follows:

Cham na cham mig tu panga auc onan moquiz cham
to gai ha cua che nag omreina li vi hiche ca noc ybé,
heg gd y vi au qui g4 topanga. Cham na cholane mim
cha pan pituo mag ma jan pohi cala cai gui cha me hol-
loto gai tom chame o gui chag cay ne che cal me tus so
Ili olo calme alla linoc chame cham cho sivo.”

Although Mr Turner classed these lang zes with the
Shoshone family, in reality they only form such a tie
through their Sonora and Aztec connection.“ This is
illustrated by Mr Buschmann in an extensive compara-
tive vocabulary of the three languages, of which I shall
give a brief extract on a subsequent page.”

15 Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., pp. 393-4.

16 ‘ Belong to the great Shoshonee, or Snake family.’ Turner, in Pac. R. R.
Rept., vol. iii., p. 76. ‘The similarity which exists between many words in
these two languages, and in the Shoshoni, is evident enough from a com-
parison of the vocabularies. The resemblance is too great, to be attributed
to mere casual intercourse, but it is doubtful whether the evidence which it
affords will justify us in classing them together as branches of the same
family.’ Hale’s Ethnog., in U. 8. Ew. Ex., vol. vi., p. 567. ‘The natives of
St. Diego cannot understand a word of the language used in this mission,
and in Tike manner, those in the neighborhood of St. Barbara, and farther
Lehn ir ala in Robinson’s Life in Cal., p. 240; Gleeson’s Hist. Cath.
Church, p. 97.

MY ‘Ich habe in dem Kizh....und in der Netela. ...zwei Glieder meines
sonorischen Sprachstammes, ausgestattet mit Aztekischem Sprachstoff, ent-
deckt,’ Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek, Spr., p. 546. ‘Bei der, genugsam von
mir aufgezeigten Gemeinschaft der zwei californischen Idiome, so lautet
mein Urtheil, hofft man auch hier vergebens auf ein genaues, gliickliches Zu-
ireffen eigenthiimlicher Formen dieser Sprachen mit dem Comanche und
Schoschonischen oder mit den siidlicheren sonorischen Hauptsprachen, ein
Zusnmmentreffen mit etwas recht Besonderem Einer Sprache mit einer
anderen: so nahe liegen die Sprachen si-h nie, sie sind alle fremd genug
gegen einander,’ Buschmann, Aizh und Netela, p. 518.

ry abox-
abonac
mosaich

y a close

cuachin,
1a cham
cal cay-
0 chame

juiz cham
» noc ybi
lane mim
» me hol-

ne tus sO
15

s with the
such a tie
5 This is
> compara-

ich 1 shall

lin Pac. R. R.

any words in
h from a com-
be attributed
hence which it
4 of the same
the natives of
this mission,
p, and farther
"g Hist. Cath.

lieder meines
achstoff, ent-
benugsam von
me, so lautet
iickliches Zu-
omanche un

sprachen, ein
hhe mit einer
fremd genug

CHEMEHUEVI AND CAHUILLO PRONOUNS. 677

The Chemehuevi and Cahuillo, the last two of this
division, have also been classed as belonging to the Sho-
shone family, and some have even called them bands of
Pah-Utes, but what has been said concerning the affilia-
tion of the three last mentioned will apply to these with
equal force. That they are distinct languages has al-
ready been stated by Padre Garcés, who describes them
under the name of Chemegue cajuala, Chemegue sebita,
Chemeguaba, and Chemegue, ascribing the same lan-
guage to all of them in distinction from their neighbors.
He includes with the Chemehuevi the Yavipai muca
oraive or Moqui, who, although not speaking the same
language, are still somewhat connected with them,
through their Sonora and Aztec relations, which conjec-
tures are singularly significant.’® Grammatical remarks
on these languages there are but few to offer. The
accentuation is in neither very regular; in the Cheme-
huevi, it is generally on the second syllable, while in the
Cahuillo it is mostly on the first. I give here the
personal pronouns of the two languages.

CHEMEHUEVI.

f nuu
Thou haiico eh
He einpé peh
We ehémim
You ¢éhmim

{wim

To illustrate the Sonora and Aztec connection, I offer
the following short comparative vocabulary.

18 Garcds, Diario, in Doc. Hist. Mew., série ii., tom. i., p. 351. Orozco y
Berra includes them as well as the Utahs and Moquis with the Apache fam-
ily of languages, in support of which he cites Balbi, tableau xxxii. ‘Die
Chimehwhuebes, Comanches und Cahuillos, also Stimme, die zwischen den
Kiisten der Stidsee und Texas verbreitet sind, als Nebenstémme der Nation
der Schoschone oder Schlangen-Indianer betrachtet werden kénnen.’ Méll-
hausen, Reisen in die Felsengeb., tom. i., pp. 435-6. ‘The Chemehuevis are a
band of Pah-Utahs...whose language ..agrees most nearly with Simpson’s
Utah, and Hale’s East Shoshonee.’ The Cahuillo ‘ exhibits the closest affin-
ity to the Kechi and Netela, especially the former. Its uffinity to the Kizh is
equally evident.’ Turner, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii., p. 76. ‘Die Cheme-
huevi- und Cahuillo-Sprache sind einander so fremd, dass sie beinahe fiir
alle Begriffe ganz andere Worter besitzen; ihre Verschiedenheit ist so gross,
dass man aus ihnen allein nicht ahnden sollte, sie seien beide gleichmissig
sonorische Glieder.’ Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr., p. 654.

19 Turner, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii., p. 77.

g
5
:
é
|
m
a
2

pusun-opush|nopulum
i pahe
no

ixquaitl
macuilli |
anana, najas|nacaztli
; 7 } 1
'teta \jodde
H yupikha ili ichuculi jaca
‘ | nong, pehen |
Ow-so-ni, .
jor ta-qnush | ; tule |
meca | ’ kakshitkhl nomae mi-ameya
mukeadi [qui i

® Compiled from Buschmann, Turner, Hale, Molina, Ortega, and others.

AZTEC TRACES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 679

As regards the Sonora and Aztec relationship, we have
here again the substantive endings p, b, ¢, in various forms,
which, as before stated, may be compared with Aztec
endings, changed according to certain linguistic laws.
In the Cahuillo, as in the Kechi, prefixed possessive
pronouns, before substantives representing parts of the
human body, particularly that in the first person sin-
gular, n, are proof of the Sonora affiliation. In the
same words, the Chemehuevi has the two pronouns ni
and wi, which always carry with them the ending, m.”

$1 Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr., pp. 553-4.

CHAPTER VI.

THE PUEBLO, COLORADO RIVER, AND LOWER CALIFORNIA
LANGUAGES.

TRACES OF THE AZTEC NOT FOUND AMONG THE PrEesBios or New MEXICO AND
Arizona— THE Five LANGUAGES OF THE PorBLos, THE QUERES, THE
Treaua, THE Picoris, JEMEZ, AND ZoS1—PvuEBLo CoMPARATIVE VocaBU-
LARY—THE YUMA AND ITs DIALECTS, THE Maricopa, Cucuan, Mosave,
DieGcEXo, Yampats, AND Yavipais—TuHE Cocuimf, Guaicur{, AND PEenicu,
WITH THEIR D1aLects oF LOWER CALIFORNIA—GUAICURI GRAMMAR—Pa-
TER NosTeR IN THREE Cocummf Dranects—THE Lanevaaes oF LowFr

CALIFORNIA WHOLLY IsoLATED.

Having already mentioned some of the principal
idioms spoken in the southern part of the Great Basin,
as parts of the trunks to which they belong, or with
which they affiliate, I shall devote the present chapter
to such languages of New Mexico and Arizona as can-
not be brought into the Tinneh or Sonora stocks, and
to those of Lower California. Beginning with the
several tongues of the Pueblos, thence proceeding west-
ward to the Colorado River, and following its course
southward to the Gulf of California, I shall include
the languages of the southern extremity of California,
and finally those of the peninsula. These languages
are none of them cognate with any spoken in Mexico.
Respecting those of the Pueblos which have long been
popularly regarded as allied to southern tongues, it is
now very certain that they are in no wise related to
them, if we except the Aztec word-material found in

(

the )
from |
have ,
the re
meany
langua
those |
tion;
clusion,
may |
human
commu:
to othe
race, e
between
agism,
language
vanced
stantial
their lar
of the r
with eac]
although
tongue o
possible

in a land
exists on]
it could
language
Five di

language
Ildefonso,
one of the
in Taos, P
language ;

THE FIVE PUEBLO LANGUAGES. 681

the Moqui. From analogous manners and customs,
from ancient traditions and time-honored beliefs, many
have claimed that these New Mexican towns-people are
the remains of aboriginal Aztec civilization, attempting
meanwhile to explain away the adverse testimony of
language, by amalgamation of the ancient tongue with
those of other nations, or by absorption or annihila-
tion; all of which, so far as arriving at definite con-
clusions is concerned, amounts to nothing. Analogies
may be drawn between any nations of the earth;
human beings are not so unlike but that in every
community much may be found that is common
to other communities, irrespective of distance and
race, especially when the comparison is drawn
between two peoples both just emerging from sav-
agism. The facts before us concerning the Pueblo
languages are these: although all alike are well ad-
vanced from primeval savagism, live in similar sub-
stantial houses, and have many common customs, yet
their languages, though distinct as a whole from those
of the more savage surrounding tribes, do not agree
with each other. It is difficult to prove that the Aztec,
although now perhaps extinguished, never was the
tongue of New Mexico; on the other hand, it is im-
possible to prove that it was, and surely theorists go
far out of their way in attempting to establish a people
in a land where no trace of their language exists, or
exists only in such a phase as proves conclusively that
it could not possibly have ever been the basis of the
language now spoken.

Five distinct languages, with numerous dialects, more
or less deviating, are spoken by the Pueblos, By the
inhabitants of Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Santa Ana,
Silla, Laguna, Pojuate, Acoma, and Cochiti, the Queres
language is spoken; in San Juan, Santa Clara, San
Ildefonso, Pojuaque, Nambe, Tezuque, and also in Harno,
one of the Moqui towns, the Tegua language prevails;
in Taos, Picoris, Zeudia, and Isleta, there is the Picoris
language; in Jemez and Old Pecos, the Jemez; in Zufii,

682 PUEBLO LANGUAGES.

the Zufii language." The three principal dialects of
Queres are the Kiwomi, Cochitemi, and Acoma. Of
these the first two are very similar, in some cases al-
most identical, while the Acoma is more distinct? In
the Queres the accent is almost invariably on the first
syllable, and the words are in general rather short,
although a few long words occur. Possessive pronouns
appear to be affixed; they are ini, ni, ne, in, and 4.
In the Tegua and Zuii the personal pronouns are:

TEGUA. PAU) §
I nah héo
Thou uh t
He ihih léoko
She ihih .
We (incl.) tahquireh hdéono
We (exc.) nihyeuboh
You nahih ahchée
They ihnah ldoko

In the Tegua, although many monosyllabics appear,
there are also a number of long words, such as pehgnah-
vicahmborth, shrub; haihiombotahrei, for ever; hahnguena-
ahnpih, to be; haihahgnuhai, great; heinginubainboyoh,
nothing. In the Zui, long words appear to predomi-

1¢No one showing anything more than the faintest, if any, indications
of a cognate origin with the other.’ Simpson's Jour, Mil. Recon., pp. 5, 128-9.
‘Classed by dialects, the Pueblos of New Mexico at the period of the ar-
rival of the Spaniards spoke four separate and distinct languages, called the
Tegua, the Piro, the Queres, and the Tagnos.’ ‘There are now five differ-
ent dialects spoken by the Pueblos.’ No Pueblo can ‘understand another
of a different dialect.’ ‘It does not follow that the groups by dialect corres-
pond with their geographical grouping; for, frequently, those furthest apart
speak the same, and those nearest speak different languages.’ Meline’s Two
Thousand Miles, pp. 203-4; Lane, in Schoolcraft’s Arch., vol. v., p. 689.
‘The Pueblo Indians of Taos, Pecuris and Acoma speak a language of
which a dialect is used by those of the Rio Abajo, including the Pueblos of
San Felipe, Sandia, Ysleta, and Xeméz.’ Ruzton's Adven. Mex., p. 194.
‘There are but three or four different languages spoken among them, and
these, indeed, may be distantly allied tc each other.’ ‘Those further to the
westward are perhaps allied to the Navajoes.’ Gregg's Com. Prairies, vol. i.,
», 269. ‘In ancient times thy: s:yeral pueblos formed four distinct nations,
called the Piro, Tegua, Qucres, unc Taynos or Tanos, speaking as many dif-
ferent dialects or languages.’ Davis’ El Gringo, p.116; see also pp. 155-6, on
classification according to Crivzatz, ‘The Jemez. ...speak precisely the same
language as the Pecos,’ Jie ech’s Deserts, vol. i., p. 198; Turner, in Pac.
R. , Rept, vol. iii., pp. 90, etseq. ‘There are five difterent dialects spoken
by the nineteen ueble

os.’ These are so distinct that the Spanish language
‘has to be resorted to as a common medium of communication.’ Ward, in

Ind. Aff. Rept., 1864, p. 191; Buschmann, Spr. N. Mex, u. der Westseite des b.

Nordamer., p. 280, et seq.
2 Turner, in Pac. R, R. Rept., vol. gis p. 90; Buschmann, Spr. N. Mex.

u. der Westseite des b. Nordamer., p. 30!

In th
betweer
guages
this tj
uames

The

, 'Tusu
atic stocks,
p. 406, «
80 much ali
Lane, in Id
seq. i Busch

‘Die @
besondere §
Spr, N. Mes

ezuque-Sp
nhugsam erw
Ahnlichkeitd
ganz fremd i
ent speak th

exican Pu
origin of all
Ind. Af. Rey
posed, to ha
Speaking thr.
this point,’
guage vcrv m
Gregg’s Com,

PUEBLO COMPARATIVE VOCABULARY. 683

nate,—dhmeeashneekeeah, autumn; dhseeailahpalhtonnai,
finger ; lahtailoopeetsinnah, gold ; téhleenahweeteekeeah, mid-
night; tdhmchahpahndhmnee, war-club, and others.’ As
will more clearly appear by the following comparative
vocabulary, none of these languages are sognate; they
have no affinity among themselves, nor with any other
family or group.‘

QUERES, TEGUA. PICORIS. JEMEZ. ZUNI.

Sun pah hoolennah pay yattockkah
Moon poyye annah pahah

Star _—_shecat} adoyeah hahheglannah woonhah moyatchuway
Earth hahats nah pahhannah docknh oulocknannay
Man eshatssee sayen tahhahnenah shuotish onatse

Woman naiatsay ker clayannah steosh ocare

Head nashcanne pumbah pinemah chitchous oshuckquinnay
Eye kannah chay chenay saech toonahway
Nose karwishshe shay pooaenah forsaech nolinnay
Mouth tseeikah sho clahmoenah eaequah aewabtinnay
Ear kahupsh oyeo taglayonay washchish lahschucktinnay
Hand kahmoshtay mah mahtish shoncheway
Dog tish cher sodornah eannu watsetah

Fire hahkanye = fah pahannah fwaah mackke

Water = tseats ogh pohahoon pah keaoway

In the region through which flows the Colorado, and
between that river and the Gila, many different lan-
guages are mentioned by the early missionaries but at
this time it is difficult to ascertain how far different
uames are applied to any one nation.

The missionaries themselves frequently did not know

3 Tusuque words ‘are monosyllabic, and suggest a connection with Asi-
atic stocks, in which this feature 1s prominent.’ Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. iii.,
p. 406. ‘All these languages are extremely guttural and to my ear seemed
so much alike that I imagine they have sprung from the same parent stock.’
Lane, in Id., vol. v., p. 689; Turner, in Pac R. R. Rept., vol. iii., p. 93 et
seq.; Buschmann, New Mex. und Brit. N. Amer., p. 280 et seq.

4 ‘Die Queres-Sprache ist trotz einiger Ankléinge an andere eine ganz
besondere Sprache, von der keine Verwandtschaft aufzutinden.’ Buschmann,
Spr. N. Mew. u. der Westseite des b. Nordumer., p. 303. ‘Die Fremdheit der
Tezuque-Sprache gegen alles Bekannte is durch das Wortverzeichniss ge-
nugsaim erwiesen.’ ‘Ich unterlasse es spielende aztekische oder Sonorische
Ahnlichkeiten zu bezeichnen, da auch die Zufi-Sprache diesen Idiomen
ganz fremd ist.’ Id., pp. 296-7. ‘Tanos, ‘one of the Moqui villages, at pres-
ent speak the Tegua language, which is also spoken by several of the New
Mexican Pueblo Indians, which leaves but little doubt as to the common
origin of all the village Indians of this country and Old Mexico.’ Arny, in
Ind. Aff. Rept., 1871, p. 381, ‘These Indians claim, and are generally su
posed, to have descended from the ancient Aztec race, but the fact of their
speaking three or four different awe would tend to cast a doubt upon
this point.’ Merriwether, in Id., 1854, p. 174. ‘The words in the Zufi lan-
guage vcrv much resemble the an Hutchings’ Cal. Mag., vol. ii., p.348;
Gregg’s Com. Prairies, vol. i., p. 285.

— aaa er ——————
ee ee ee
a mete = = wa
y 4

684 COLORADO RIVER LANGUAGES,

how to name the people; often they gave several names
to one language, and several languages one name; many
ef the then existing dialects are known to have since
become extinct, and many more have mysteriously dis-
appeared, along with those who spoke them, ,so that in
many instances, a century after their first mention no
such language could be found. it seems seldom to have
occurred to the missionaries and conquerors that the
barbarous tongues of these heathen could ever be of in-
terest or value to Christendom, still less lists of their
words; so that vocabularies, almost the only valuable
speech-material of the philologist, are exceedingly rare
among the writings of the early missionary Fathers,
If one half of their profitless homilies on savage sal-
vation had been devoted to the simple gleaning of
facts, science would have been the gainer, and the souls
of the natives no whit less at peace. Of late, however,
vocabularies of the dialects of this region have become
numerous, and relationships are at length becoming
permanently established.

The languages under consideration, on comparison,
may nearly all be comprised in what may be called the
Yuma family. The principal dialects which constitute
the Yuma family are the Yuma, Maricopa, Cuchan,
Mojave, and Dieguefio, which last is spoken in southern
California, and more particularly around the bay of
San Diego. Among others mentioned are the Yavipais
and Yampais.° Compared with that of their neighbors

5 Cocomaricopa, Yuma, Jalchedun and Jamajab, speak the same lan-
nage. Garcés, Diario, in Doc, Hist, Mex., série ii., tom. i., p. 350; Kino,
Relavion, in Id., s¢rie iv., tom. i., pp. 292-3. ‘Opas, que hablan la lengua
de Jos umas y Cocomaricopas ...Corre la gentilidad de éstos y de su, misma
lengua por los rios Azul, Verde, Salado y otros que entran el Colorado.’ Ar-
ricivita, Cronica Serdfica, p. 416, ‘La lengua de todas estas naciones es una,
Cocomaricopas, Yuma, Nijora, Quicamopa,’ Sedelmair, Relacion, in Doc, Hist.
Mew., série lii., tom. iv., pi. 852. Cuchans, or Yumas, ‘speal the same din-
lect’ as the Maricopas. Himory'’s Rept. U. 8. and Mex. Boundary Survey, ).
107; Turner, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii., pp. 101 3; Méllhausen, Reisen in
dis Felsengeb., tom. i., p. 433. Yumas ‘no ser Nacion distinta de la Coco-
maricopa, pues usin el mesmo Idioma.’ Villa-Sevior y Sanchez, Theairo, tom.
ii., p. 408; (Gallatin, in Emory’s Reconnoissance, p. fh9; Cremony's Apaches,
p. 90, ‘The Pimos and Cocomaricopas..... speaking different languages.
Cutts’ Cong. of Cal., p. 189. Cosninos and Tontos, ‘leur langue aurait plus
d’affinité avec celle des Mohaves et des Cuchans du Colorado,’ ‘Les Yumas,

follow

auxquels
nos. Chi
UN certai
seur de B
und Yum:
Mejico, to
uma, M
$61; Id.,
speak a
tongue,’ ]
guages ar
them wher
maricopas,
ro Colora¢
bus de est
diferencia |
p. 554; Son
os Yumas,
hudcoadan
culisnurs y
esta seccion
huimas, yui
y Berra, Gee
etseq. ‘D)
Verschieden
sondere Spr
‘Alike in ot)
guage,’ Lat)
® ‘Suave
el la que falt
Sedelmair, Ri
melodious,’
vol, iii,, p. U
7 Mofras,

DIEGUENO LORD’S PRAYER. 685

the language of the Dieguefios is soft and harmonious,
and as it contains all the sounds of the letters in the
English alphabet, the people speaking it readily learn
to pronounce the English and Spanish languages cor-
rectly. The following Lord's Prayer is a specimen of
the dialect of the Diegueiios.

Nagua anall amaf tacaguach naguanetuuxp mamamul-
po cayuca amaibo mamatam meyayam canaao amat
amaibo quexuic echasau naguagu{f fiafia chonfiaquin
filpil mefieque pachis echeyuchapo flagua quexuic fiagu-
wich fiacaguaihpo fiamechamel anipuch uch-guelfch-cuf-
apo. Nacuiuch-pambo-cuchlich-cufatpo-fiamat. Napui-
ja.

Of the other dialects the short vocabulary on the
following page will give an illustration:

auxquels se joignent les Cocopas, les Mohaves, les Havwalcoes, et les Diegque-
nos. Chacune de ces tribus a une langue particuliére, mais qui, jusqu’ &
un certain point, se rapproche de celles des tribus du méme groupe.’ Bras-
seur de Bourbourg, Esquisses, pp. 28-9. ‘Gewiss ist, dass die Cocomaricépas
und Yumas nur Dialecte einer und derselben Sprache reden.’ Miihlenpfordl,
Mejico, tom. i., p. 211. ‘The Maricopas speak....a dialect of the Cocapa,
Yuma, Mohave, and Diegana tongue.’ Mowry, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1859, p.
361; Jd., 1857, p. 302. Paraycs, Pimos, and Maricopas. ‘These tribes
speak a common language, which is conceded to be the ancient Aztec
tongue.’ Davidson, in /d., 1865, p. 181, Pima and Maricopa. ‘Their lan-
guages are totally different, so much so that I was enabled to distinguish
them when spoken.’ Bartlett's Pers. Nar., vol. ii., p. 262. ‘Los opas, coco-
maricopas, hudcoadan, yumas, cuhuanas, quiquimas, y otros mas alld del
rio Colorado, se pueden tambien Hamar pimas y contar por otras tantas tri-
bus de esta nacion; pues la lengua de que usan es una misma con sola la
diferencia del dinlecto.’ Sonora, Descrip, Geog., in Doc, Hist. Mex., série iii.,
P: 554; Sonora, Rudo Ensayo, p. 103, ‘Yuma, Dialecto del Pima, lo tienen
os Yumas, 6 chirumas, gilefios 6 xilefios, opas, cocopas, cocomaricopas,
hudcoadanes, jamajabs 6 cuesninas, 6 cuismer 6 cosninas 6 culisnisnas 6
culisnurs y los quicamopas, Cajuenche. Dialecto del pima, pertenecen A
esta seccion los cucapé 6 cuhanas, jallicuamai, cajuenches, quiquimas 6 qui-
huimas, yuanes, cutganes, alchedomuas, bagiop:s, cufiai y quemeyd.’ Orozco
y Berra, Geografia, pp. 353, 37, DBuscimann, Spuren der Aztec, Spr., p. 264,
et seq. ‘Die Yumas, deren Sprache von der der Cocomericoopas. ...wenig
verschieden ist,’ ‘Cocomericsopas, Yumas, Pimas,...haden jede ihre bo-
sondere Sprache.’ Pfefferkorn, in Vater, Mithridates, vol. iii., pt iii., p. 159.
‘Alike in other reapects the Pima and Cocomaricopa Indians differ in lan-
guage.’ Latham's Comp, Piil., vol, viii, p. 421.

6 ‘Suave al parecer, y mas facil que no la pima, pues tiene la suave vocal
el la que falta 4 los pimas, repitiendo ellos la u hablan su idioma cantando,’
Sedelmair, Relacion, in Doc, Hist. Mex., série iii, tom. iv., p.852, ‘Soft and
melodious,’ Bartlett's Pers, Nar, vol. ii., p. 262; Turner, in Pac. R. R Rept.,
vol, iii., p. 101.

7 Mofras, Explor., tom. ii., p. 395,

686 LOWER CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

CUCHAN. MARICOPA. MOJAVE. DIEGUENO.
Man — épatch eepfche ipah aycdotchet
Woman _— seenyack sinchayafxhutch sinyax seen
House eenouwa . ahba awih
Sun n’yatch n’yatz n’yatz
Moon hullyar hullash hullya
Fire aawo A&hooch awa
Water ahé ahha aha
Maize terditch terdftz terdicha
Good ahotk ahotk abhotk han
I n‘yat inyAtz n’yatz n'yat8
Go n’yeemoom n’yimoom
Sleep aseemah esoma’om

Then there are the Yampai and Yavipai, said ‘9
approach the Cuchan and Mojave;° the Chevet reported
as a distinct tongue;” the Cajuenche said to be another
language, and the Jalliquamai, a dialect of the Ca-
juenche." The Tamajaib is a strange language, described
by Don José Cortez as “spoken with violent utterance
and lofty arrogance of manner; and in making speeches,
the thighs are violently struck with the palms of the
hands.”

There are further mentioned the Benemé with the
dialects Tecuiche and Teniqueche, and lastly the Covaji
and Noche, each a distinct tongue.” The people speak-
ing the Noche prcbably were the northern and eastern
neighbors of the Dieguefios, and may have been men-
tioned by some writers under other names. I have
preferred to enumerate them here, because the names
frequently occur in the reports of the earlier expeditions
to the Yuma nations.

On the peninsula of Lower California, there are
three distinct languages with many dialects, more or
less related to each other. Some of these dialects ap-

8 Turner, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii., p. 95, et seq.; Schoolcraft’s Arch.,
vol, ii., P. 118, et seq.

9 Whipple, Hwhank, and Turner, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii., p. 14.

16 ‘Ia Nacion Chevet,...de muy distinto idioma de los que tienen Ins
demas Naciones.’ Arricivita, Crénica Serdfica, p. 472.

11 ‘La lengua de los cajuenches es muy distinta de la yuma.’ Jalliqua-
mais ‘aunque perene el mismo idioma que e! de los cajuenches, se diferenc/a
mucho.’ Garcés, Diario, in Doc, Hist. Mew., strie ii,, tom. i., pp. 247, 251.

ls ‘The Cucdpas, Talliguamays, and Cajnenches speak one tongue; the
Yumas, Talchedums, and 'Tamajabs have a distinctone.’ Cortez, Hist, Apache
Nations, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii., p. 124.

13 Id., p, 126,

Jo que corapre}

pear
siona
and
sula
other;
three
its pr
curi, 1
Uchiti
there
missio.
minor

i ‘Ny
ten Califo
der Missi
und ande
annoch un
angetroffe:
und von ¢
Cal., pp. 1
chimi, fi E
uayelra,
no solo qu
Cal., ton,
azioni ave
p. 109, «
chos.’ ‘Tc
fe entiende
Periuches,
de trois lay
parlant la
moire, in Re
in Calitornid
lich die de
ericu; die
Layinon; di¢

sula; 5, A
Link,’ Lathin
languages, the
quoting Fathe
4nd Cochimfs,

THREE STOCK LANGUAGES IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 687

pear so remote frov.. the parent stock that the early mis-
sionaries believed them to be independent languages,
and accordingly the number of tongues on the penin-
sula has been variously estimated, some saying four,
others six; but careful comparisons refer them all to
three stock languages. These are the Cochim{, with
its principal dialects, the Laymon and Ika; the Guai-
curi, with the Cora, Monqui, Didii, Liyte, Eda, and
Uchiti dialects; and lastly the Perici. Besides the above,
there were also other dialectic differences in almost every
mission, such as the variations of word-endings, and other
minor points.“ In general these languages have been de-

14 ‘Nun dann fiinf andere ganz verschiedene, und in dem bisher entdeck-
ten Californien iibliche Sprachen (welche seynd die Laymona, in der Gegend
der Mission von Loreto, die Cotschim), in der Mission des heil Xaverii
und anderen gegen Norden, die Utschi 1, und die Pericia in Suden, und die
annoch unbekannte welche die Vilker reden, so P. Linck auf seiner Reis hat
angetroffen) nebst einer rege: Absprossen oder Dialekten, aut Seit gesetzt,
und von der Waicurischen allein etwas anzumerken.’ Baegert, Nachr. von
Cal., Pp. 176-7. ‘Tres son (dice el Padre Taraval) las Lenguas: la Co-
chimi, la Perici y la de Loreto. De esta ultima salen dos ramos, y son: la
Guaycitra, y la Uchiti; verdad es, que es la variacion tanta, que... .juzgara,
no solo que hay quatro Lenguas, sino que hay cinco.’ Venegas, Noticia de la
Cal., tom. i., pp. 63-7, Pericui, Guaicuri, Cochimf. ‘Ognuna di queste tre
Nazioni aveva il suo linguaggio proprio.’ Clavigero, Storia della Cal., tom. i.,
p. 109. ‘Vehitls, Coras, Pericos, Guaicuras, Cantils, Cayeyus, y otros mu-
chos.’ ‘Los de la baja peninzula. ..hablan distintos idiomas pero todos
se entienden.’ Revillagigedo, Carta, MS., p. 7. Edues, Cochimies, et
Periuches. ‘Ces trois tribus parlent neuf dialectes diférents, dérivés
de trois langues-matrices.’ Pauw, Rech, Phil., tom. i., p. 168, ‘Les unes
parlant la Langue Mongui....les autres la Langue Laimone,’ Picolo, Meé-
moire, in Recueil de Voiages au Nord, tom. iii., p. 279. ‘Dreyerley Sprachen
in Calitornien,’ ‘die de los Picos, dann die de los Wafcuros....und end-
lich die de los Laymdnes.’ Ducrue, in Murr, Nachrichten, p. 392. ‘Die
Pericu; die Waicura mit den Dialecten Cora, Uchidie und Aripe; die
Layimon; die Cochima mit 4 verschiedenen Dialecten, worunter der von S.
Francesco und Borgia; die Utschita; die Ika.’ Hassel, Mee. Guat., p. 57.
‘Die Perfoxes, dann die Monquis oder Menguis, zu welchen die Familien
der Uueyciras und Coras gehéren, die Cochfmas oder Colimiés, die Lai-
radnes, dic Utschitas oder Vehftis, und die Icas.’ Mihlenpfordt, Mejico, tom.
4, p. VR See also tom. ii., pt ii., pp. 443-4; Taylor, in Browne's L. Cal.,
ip. Sa-@ ‘The Cochimi, Pericu, and Loretto languages; the former is
ve so10¢ ad the Laymon, for the Laymones are the northern Cochimies; the
Loretto as twe Cialects, that of the Guaycuru and the Uchiti.’ Prichard’s
‘vat Hisi. Mes, vol. ii, p. 553, ‘The languages of old California were: 1.
The Warisic, spoken in several dialects; 2. The Utshiti; 3. The Laymon; 4.
The Covhimi North and the Pericu at the southern extremity of the penin-
sula; 5, A probably new form of speech used by some tribes visited by
Link.’ Latham’s Comp, Phil., vol. viii., p. 423. Morrell mentions three
languages, the Pericues, Menquis, and Cochimies. Nar., p. 198, Forbes,
quoting Father Taraval, also speaks of three languages, Pericues, Monquis,
and Cochimfs, ¢’al., p. 21. ‘Noto habia dos idiomas distintos; el uno todo
lo que cormmprehende fn parte del Mediod’a, y Mamabun Ado; y el otro tolo

688 LOWER CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

scribed as harsh and poverty-stricken. The mission-
aries complained of not being able to find terms with
which to express many of the doctrines which they
wished to inculcate; but from the grammatical notes
left by Father Baegert and those of Ducrue contained
in Murr's Nachrichten, as well as from the various Pater
Nosters at hand, it appears that these languages are not
so very poor after all. Much there may have been
wanting to the zealous Fathers, many burning words
and soul-stirring xpressions, which would have greatly
assisted their efforts, but except that there is certainly
no redundancy in these languages, they offer nothing
very extraordinary.” Following I give a few gram-
matical notes on the Guaicuri language. The sounds
represeiited by the German letters, 0, f, g, 7, 2, 2, and s,
excep!" - tsk, do not appear. Possessive pronouns
are show. the following examples:

My tather bedfre My nose minami
Thy father edire Thy nose einamit
His father tire His nose tinami
Our father kepedare

lo que abraza el Departamento del Norte y Namaban Cochimi,’ Californias,
Noticias, carta i., p. 99; Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii, p. 182, et seq.;
Baegert, in Smithsonian Rept., 1864, p. 393, Orozco y Berra also accepts
three, naming them, Pericu; Guaicura, with the dialects, Cora, Conchos,
Uchita and Aripa; and the Cochim{ with the dialects, Edi, Didi, and
Northern Cochimi, Geografia, pp. 365-7; Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii., p. 207,
et seq.; Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek, Spr., p. 469, et Bed.
15 * La lingua Cochimi, Ja quale é la pil distesa, @ molto dificile, 8 piena
d'aspirazioni, ed ha alcune maniere di POROUS, che non é possibile di
darle ad intendere... La lingua Perici ¢ oggimai estinta ...La branca degli
Uchiti, o quasi tutta quella de’ Cori si sono estinte.’ Clavigero, Storia della
Cal, tom. i., pp. 110, 109. Edues and Didius, ‘sus palabras no eran de muy
diffcil pronunciacion, pero carecian enteramente de la f ys.’ Allegre, Ilist.
Comp. de Jesus, tom, iii., pp. 46-7. ‘Die Aussprache ist meistenstheils gut-
turalis und narium,’ Ducrue, in Murr, Nachrichten, p. 392. Waicuri. ‘ Kann
man von derselben sagen, dass sie im hiéchsten Grad wild sey und barba-
risch,...80 bestehet derselben Barbarey in folgendem, und zwar—1l. In
einem erbirmlichen und erstaunlichen Mangel unendlich vieler Worter....
in dem Mangel und Abgang der Pripositionen, Conjunctionen, und Rela-
tivorum, das déve, oder tipitscheh, so wegen, und das t.na, welches anf
heisset, ausgenommen....lm Abgang des Comparativi und Superlativi, und
der Wirter mehr und weniger, item, aller Adverbiorum, so wohl deren,
welche von Adjectivis herkommen, als auch schier aller anderen, ,..Im Ab-
ang des Modi Conjunctivi, mandativi und schier gar des optativi. Item,
des verbi Passivi, oder an statt dessen, des verbi Reciproci, dessen sich dic
Spanier und Franzosen bedienen, Item, in Abgang der Declinationen, und
uugleich der Artiklen der, die, das, etc.’ Baegert, Nachr, von Cal., pp. 177-
83, See also, Smithsonian Rept., 1834, pp. 594-5,

lay,
ou playe
He plays

T have playe

Play thou,

I also
translatio)
Kept d.
Our = fa
u-me,
ledge all will,
Bracia-ri_

Brace O that |
You,

GUAICURI GRAMMAR, 689

Of prepositions only two are
upon; and déve, or tipttsched,
ter). There is no article, a

he conjunction ishie ig
to be connected. Verbs
tenses—the

To fight
To remember
To speak

» MY, ei, thou, thee, to
» OF eiticéin, mine, thine.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB AMURIRI, To PLAY,
PRESENT INDICATIVE,

I play, bé amukirire We play, caté amuk(rire
Thou Playest, ej amukirire You play, peté amukirire
He plays, tutdu amukirire They play, tucdva amukirire

PERFECT FIRST FUTURE,
T have Played, ba amukiririkirj | I shall play, ba amukfrime

IMPERATIVE,
Play thou, anukiri tei | Play you, amukiri tu

OPTATIVE,
Would that I had not played, beri amukiririkirikira
or, beri amukirirujerira

I also add a Guaicuri Lord's Prayer with literal
translation,

Kepd dire tekerekidatemb}, dai, ir} akdtuiks.

Our father arched earth (heaven) thou art, thee O that acknow-

u-me, tsehakirrake-pu-me ti ie: eetin
ledge all will, praise all will people and; thy
Bracia-ri atime cats tekerekiidatemb) tschie: eirj
Grace O ”~ have yin we arched earth and: thee O that

Ob, .

690 LOWER CALT*OBNIAN LANGUAGES.

jebarrakéme ti pi jatipe datemba, pie ei jebarrakére,
obey will people all here earth, as thee obey,

aéna kéa: kepeciin btie kepe kén jatipe untairi: cate
above are: our food us give this day: us
kuitscharraké téi techie kepecin atacimara, phe kuit-
forgive thou and our evil,
scharrakére cate tschie cavape atukiadra keane:
forgive we also the evil us do:

cat? tikakambi téi tschie, cuvumerd cate ué

us help thou _ and, desire will not we something

atukidra: kepe kakunji pe atacira tschie. Amen.”

evil: us protect from evil and, Amen.

As regards the other two languages, the only ma-
terials at hand are some Lord’s Prayers in various dia-
lects of the Cochim{, as used in the different missions.
Of these I insert the following as samples of the dialects
spoken—I. at the Mission of Santa Marfa, II. at San
Francisco de Borgia, and III. at San Ignacio:

Father our heaven in who art: thy name
T, Lahai-apa ambeing mia: mimbangajua val

II. Cahai apd, ambeing mid, mimbang-ajud val
III. Ua-bappaé amma-bang miamti, ma mang-é-jud huit
all honored: earth thy kingdom come:

I. vuit-maha: amet mididivvaijua kukuem: jen-
II. vuit-mahd; amét mididuvaijud cucyém; jemmu-
. Maja tegem amat-ma-thadabajud ucuem: kemmu-
will t} ine heaven done be earth on

. mu-jua amabang vihi mieng ametetenang
. jua amabing vihi miéng ametenidug
. jua ammabang vahi-mang amatinang

as Bread
. luvihim. Thevap yi-cue __ ti-mi-ei-di-gua
. luichim. Thevép yiecué _ ti-mi-ei-di-gud,
. lauahim. Teguap ibang gual guiang-avit-d-jua

16 Baegert, Nachr. von Cal., pp. 175-94; Id., in Smithsonian Rept., 1864,

. 394-393; also in Pimentel, ‘Cuadro, tom. ii., 207-14; Soc. Mex. "Geog.,
oletim, Qda ¢ a, tom. iv., pp. 31-40; Vater, ita, tom. iii., pt iii.
pp. 188-92; mann, Spuren der Aatek. Spr., pp. 484—

muej ueg —
all;
ambayuj ul
heaven

yaim buh

luguigui pa
yad gamb

W Hervds,
riage _
2;
tom’ i, p. 2 Pr

LORD’s PRAYERS IN DIFFERENT DIALECTs, 691

Day
ibang-a-nang na-kahit tevichip
; ibang-andng gna cahit tevichip
- ibang dnune pac-kagit: machi
- nuhigua aviuve ham: Vichip iyeg-ua na
- nuhigug aviuvehdm Vichip lyegué gna
- pugijua abadakegem, machi uayecg-jud,
kaviu-vem cassetajuang inamenit nakum
- Caviu vém Cassetasuing mamenit guakim
- pac kabaya guem; kazet-\ juan Juang-amuegnit

kavifiaha.

be seen by
mentioned

Pennayti makenambi, yaa, ambayujiip ‘Miya md,
Our father who heaven thou art

buht: mombojui tammal) gkomendg hi nagodognd de-
thy name men recognize by love

im, guiht
and

ambayuju i md puegign ;
heaven

men

yaa gambuegjula keepujui ambinyiju, pennayula
us

who have done evil

» 125; ohmann, Spuren der Aztek, § r., Dp,
tom, iii, pt Hi. PP. 198-4; Pimentel, Cuadro, dee
tom, ii,, Pp. 395-6; Clavigero, Storia della Cal.,

692 LOWER CALIFORNIAN LANGUAGES.

dedandughjua, guilugui pagkajim: guihi yaa tagamuegli

done h

hui ambinyyjts hi ay samuel) hi doomd pogou-

and although and although
nyim; sabe eidice geil usi mahel pemnet ® dicuin
satisfy
yumd, gust yaa hui ‘mabiny yaa cam Peis pagka-
and what is evil

udugum.”®

Clavigero does not give a translation of this Lord’s
Prayer, but Hervds, who copies it in his Saggio Pratico,
translates all words which he could find in a short
vocabulary; Buschmann and others copy from him,
and even at this time no complete translation is ob-
tainable.

Lastly, I present a few sentences in the Laymon
dialect, literally translated.

Tamma amayben metafi aguinajii

Man years many _ lives not
Kenedabapa urap, guang lizi, quimib tejunoey
Father mine eats, drinks, but little.

Kenassa maba guimma
Sister thine sleeps.
Kadagua gadey iguimil decuifii
The fish sees but not hears
Juetabajua tahipefii

Blood mine good not

Kotajua kamang gehua
The stone (is) great, hard

Thungajne ganehmajen kaluht
un greater is.19

None of the Lower Californian languages are in any
way related to, or connected with, any other language.
In Jalisco an idiom is spoken which is called the Cora,

18 Clavigero, Storia della Cal., tom. i., pp. 264-5; Buschmann, Spuren der
Aztek. Spr., p. 497; Hervds, Saggio Pratico, P. 125; Vater, Mithridates, tom.
an Pel iii., PR, 8 192-4; Mofras, eplor., tom. ii., pp. 395-8; Pimentel, Cuadro,

m PP
5 Bees in is, Nachrichten, pp. 394-7.

THE CORA DIALECT IN LOWER CALIFORNIA. 693

C}

but Sefior Pimentel after comparing it with the Cora of
the peninsula as well as with others in Lower California,
assures us that not the least connection exists between
them.” It has also been stated that the languages
spoken on the peninsula north of La Paz are affiliated
with the Yuma tongue, but this is not the case. As we
have seen, the dialect of the Diegueiios reaches the sea-
coast near San Diego, and again south of that point, and
this being a Yuma dialect, it has perhaps given rise to
the belief that the Lower Californian languages incline
the same way.” In South America there is a language
called tae Guaicuru, which has nothing in common with
the Guaicuri of Lower California.”

2 ‘Hay otra idioma Iamado Cora en California, que es un dialecto del
Guaicura 6 Vaicura, diferente al que se habla en Jalisco.’ Pimentel, in Soc.
Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. viii., p. 603.

21 * All the Indian tribes of the peninsula seem to be affiliated with the
Yumas of the Colorado, and with the Coras below La Paz.’ Taylor, in
Browne's L. Cal., p. 53.

22 ‘Beide Sprachen, die californische und die Siidamerikanische Guay-
cura oder Guaycuru (Mbaya) von einander ginzlich verschieden sind.’
Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr., p. 494.

CHAPTER VII.

THE PIMA, OPATA, AND CERI LANGUAGES.

Pmaa Auto anp Baso—PAraco—Pma GramMMan—ForMatIon oF PLURALS—
PrErsonaL PronouN—CoNnsJUGATION—CLASSIFICATION OF VERBS—ADVERBS,
PREPposITIONS, CONJUNCTIONS, AND INTERJECTIONS—SyYNTAX OF THE
Prwa—PRravErs IN DIFFERENT Dratects—Tue Opata AND EvpEve—Ev-
DEVE GRAMMAR-——CONJUGATION OF ACTIVE AND PasstvE VERBs—LoRpD's
Prayer--Opata GramMar—DEcLENston — Possgsstve Pronoun—Con-
JUGATION—CERI LANGUAGE WITH ITs DIALECTS, GUAYMI AND T'EPOCA—

Cert VocaBuLary.

From the Rio Gila southward, in Sonora and in cer-
tain parts of northern Sinaloa, is found the Pima lan-
guage, spoken in many dialects, of which the principal
divisions are the Pima alto and Pima bajo, or upper and
lower Pima, and it has generally been considered one of
the chief languages of northern Mexico. North of the
thirty-second parallel, the Papago is the dominant dialect
of the Pima; in Sonora there are the Sobaipuri and others
more or less divergent.' The Pima as compared with

1 ‘Estos se parten en altos y bajos....hasta los rios Xila y Colorado,
aunque de otra banda de este hay muchos que hablan todavia el mismo
idioma,’ Alegre, Hist. Comp. de Jesus, tom. il., p. 216. ‘Los pimas bajos
usan del mismo idioma con los altos, y estos con todas las demas parcialida-
des de indios que habitan los arenales y paramos de los pApagos, los amenos
valles de Sobahipuris, las vegas de los rios Xila (& escepcion de los apaches)
y Colorado, y aun el lado opuesto del titimo gran nimero de gentes, que 4
dicho del Padre Kino y Sedelmayr, no diferencian sino en el dialecto,’ Sonora,
Descrip. Geog., in Doc. Hist. Mex., série iii., tom. iv., pp. 534-5, ‘Los opas,
cocomaricopas, hudcoadan, yumas, cuhuanas, quiquimas, y otras mas alla
del rio Colorado se pueden tambien llamar pimas y contar por otras tantas
tribus de a nacion; pues la lengua de que usan es una misma con sola la

the 1
is re}
thoug
theleg
the /
less b
larit

from.
follow
8, t,
To for
noun i
tions t
vipino
sisiki,
express

diferencia
pp. 618-1
idioma de
Villa-Seric
p. 369. ‘
muy deter
ion, i
Pima, Sol
hablan, cc
la misma
todos una
taja 4 los
Pimeria b:
366. ‘El
M el sabag:
ects of th
pp. 58-9, ¢
reden.’ P
Sprache de
Yumas....
tribus non
souche pat
davantage |
2 ‘Esta
sustantivos
junciones a
distinta de
p. 352; Ba
3 ‘Sie is
mes; aber
Buschmann,
Dialects, ©
‘These tril
ancient Azt
Id., 1869, pp

PIMA GRAMMAR. 695

the languages of their northern and southern neighbors
is represented as complete, full, and harmonious.’ Al-
though frequently classified with the Yuma, it is never-
theless a distinct tongue. It is closely connected with
the Aztec-Sonora languages, which may be proven no
less by its grammatical coincidences, than by the simi-
larity of many of its words.’ Following is an extract
from a Pima grammar. The alphabet consists of the
following letters: a, b, c, d, g, h, i, j, m, n, 0, p, g, 7, rh,
8, t, u, v, v, y. Nearly all words end with a vowel.
To form the plural, the first syllable of the singular
noun is duplicated,—hota, stone; hohota, stones. Excep-
tions to this rule occur in some few cases ;—vinoy, snake;
vipinoy, snakes; tuaia, girl; tusia, girls; sisi, brother;
sisiki, brothers; tuvu, hare; tutuapa, hares. Gender is
expressed by means of the words ubi, female, and ituoti,

diferencia del dialecto.’ Id., p. 554. Sonora, Estado de la Provincia, in Id.,
Pp. 618-19; Sonora, Papeles, in Id., p. 772. ‘Sobaypuris, y hablan en el
idio:

ma de los Pimas, aunque con alguna diferencia en Ja pronunciacion.’
Villa-Sefior y Sanchez, Theatro, tom. ii.,p. 396; Ribas, Hist. de los Triumphos,
p. 369. ‘El idioma es igual, y con respecto al de los pimas se diferencian en
muy determinadas palabras.’ Velasco, Noticias de Sonora, p. 161; Zapata,
Relacion, in Doc. Hist. Mex., série iv., tom. iii., p. 301, etseq. ‘Las naciones
Pima, Soba y sobaipuris....es una misma y general el idioma que tudos
hablan, con poca diferencia de tal cual verbo y nombre’ ‘papabotas de
la misma lengua.’ Kino, Relacion, in Id., tom. i., pp. 292-3. Pimas ‘ usan
todos una misma lengua, pero especialmente al Norte que en todo se aven-
taja 4 los demas, mas abundante y con mas primores que al Poniente y
Pimeria baja; todos no obstante se entienden.’ Velarde, in Id., tom. i., p.
366. ‘El pima se divide en varios dialectos, de los cuales....el tecoripa

el sabagui.’ Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii., p. 94. Orozco y Berra gives as dia-
ects of the Pima, the Papago, Sobaipuri, Yuma and Cajuenche. (eograufta,
pp. 58-9, 35-40, 345-53. Papagos ‘die mit den Pimas dieselbe Sprache
reden.’ Pfefferkorn, in Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., p. 159. ‘Die
Sprache der Sovaipure, als verwandt mit der der Pima.’ Jd., p. 161. ‘Aux
Yumas....se rattachent aussi, quant a la langue... .les Cocomaricopas et les
tribus nombreuses qui, sous le nom de Pimos, s’étendent....de la méme
souche paraissent venir aussi les Papayes....mais dont la langue s’éloigne
davantage de celle des Yumas.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Esquisses, p. 30.

2 ‘Esta lengua distingue par flexion el singular del plural de los nombres
sustantivos; coloca de las preposiciones despues de sus regfmenes y las con-
junciones al fin de las preposiciones: la sintaxis es muy complicada y del todo
distinta de la de las lenguas Europeas.’ Balbi, in Orozco y Berra, Geografta,
p. 352; Bartlett’s Pers. Nar., vol. ii., p. 262.

3 ‘Sie ist unfraglich und deutlich ein Glied des sonorischen Sprachstam-
mes; aber wieder sehr eigenthiimliches, selbstindiges und wichtiges Idiom.’
Buschmann, Pima-Sprache, p. 352. Family, Dohme....Language, Pima....
Dialects, Opata, Heve, Nevome, Papagos, etc.’ //ist. Mag., vol. v., p. 286.
‘These tribes speak a common language, which is conceded to be the
ansient Aztec tongue.’ Davidson, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1865, p. 131; Parker, in
Id., 1869, p. 19.

696 PIMA LANGUAGES,

male. Derivatives expressing something which par-
takes of the nature of the primitive are formed with the
affix magui;—«aivori, honey ; xaivorimagqui, honeyed. For
the same purpose the terminal kamu is also used ;—
hadunikama, related to. Kama is also employed to form
names of places and patronymics. Abstract words are
formed with the word daga ;—huwmatkama, man; hum-
atkamadaga, mankind; stoa, white; stoadaga, whiteness.
The particle parha, affixed to nouns implies a past con-
dition ;—nigaga, my land for planting; nigaga parha; the
land for planting which was mine.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

SINGULAR.
FIRST PERSON. SECOND PERSON.
Nom. ani, an’ani Nom. api, ap’api
Gen., Dat., and Abl. ni Gen., Dat., and Abl. mu
Ace. ni, nunu, nu Ace, mumu, mu
Voc. api
PLURAL.
Nom. ati, at’ati Nom., and Voce. apimu
Gen., Dat., and Abl., ti Gen., Dat., and Abl. amu
Ac., ti, tutu, tu | Ac. amumu, amn
THIRD PERSON.

He, or she, hugai huka | They, those, augama, hukama
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB AQUIARIDA, TO COUNT
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I count, ani haquiarida We count, ati haquiarida
‘Thon countest, api haquiarida You count, apimu haquiarida
He counts, hugai haquiarida They count, hugam haquiarida
IMPERFECT, PERFECT.
I counted, ani haquiarid cada =|Ihave counted, an’t’ haquiari
PLUPERFECT,

Ihad counted, an’t’haquiarid cada

FIRST FUTURE.
I shall count, ani aquiaridamucu, or an’t’io haquiari

SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have counted, an’t’ io haquiari

IMPERATIVE,
Count thou, haquiaridani, or hahaquiarida
Count you, haquiarida vorha, or gorha haquiarida
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I count, co’n’igui haquiaridana
PRESENT OPTATIVE.

O that I may count, dod’ an’ iki haquiaridana

four gp
as to
these d
are giv

4 Arte

pp. 93-118
Seon, Soc.

iii., pp. 46
357-80;

PIMA GRAMMAR. 697

Whee T am counting (speaking of one person only), haquiaridatu
Speaking of two persons, haquiaridada
aving counted, haquiaridac

When I count, or after counting, haquiaridaay

He who counts, haquiaridadama

He who counted, haquiaridacama

He who has to count, haquiaridaaguidama, or io haquiaridacama

Verbs are divided into many classes, such as sin-
gular, plural, frequentative, applicative, and com-
pulsive. Plural-verbs;——-murha, to run, one person; vo-
pobo, to run, many. Frequentatives are formed with
the verb himu, to go;—for example, vaita, to call; vaita-
himu, to call frequently. Applicatives are made by
changing the terminal vowel of the verb into i, and
adding the terminal da;—tubanu, to lower; tubanida, to
lower something. Compulsive verbs are formed with the
affix tuda:—hukiaridatuda, to compel to count. A large
number of adverbs are used, of which I give only a few
specimens:

Near here inva
ig tai
Here (moving) Yesterday taco
Near How, as Xa, astu, xaco
Nearer i No pima

PREPOSITIONS.
vaita Since oiti
iquiti, vusio With bumatu, buma
eamene Of amidurhu
al

CONJUNCTIONS.
upu, cosi Or aspumusi, aspi
posa Then bunoga
Because coiva Although apcada

Substantives are generally placed after the adjectives.
To signify possession the name of the possessor is sim-
ply prefixed :—Pedro onnigga, wife of Pedro. Preposi-
tions are affixed.‘ Of the different dialects there are
four specimens, of which one differs to such an extent
as to be hardly recognizable. Neither the names of
these dialects. nor the places where they were spoken
are given with any of them by the authorities. The

4 Arte dela Tengui Névome, que se dice Pima; on 108-8: Cuadro, tom. ii.,
pp. 93-118; Vuler, Mithridatcs, tom. iii., pt iii., pp. 166-9; Coulter, in Lond.
eog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., pp. 248-50; ag | ah Schooleraft’s Arch., vol.
iii., a7 bb: 461-2; Hist. Mag., vol. v., pp? ys uschmann, Pima-Sprache, pp.

Mofras, Ezplor., tom. ii., p. 40

698 PIMA LANGUAGES.

first which I give is by the missionary Father Pfeffer-
korn, and differs most from any of the others.
Diosch ini mam, ami si schoic tat, wus in’ ipudakit.
God my dear, I very sorry am towards my heart of
Ant’ apotuta si sia pitana, apt’ um _soreto

I have done very much ugly, thou me punish wilt
taikisa pia humac tasch pia etonni tat.
fire in no single time not _ burning is.

The next, a Lord’s Prayer, is from a Doctrina Chris-
tiana:

T’oga ti dama ca tum’ ami da cama s’cuga m’aguna
mu tuguiga, tubui divianna simu tuodidaga. Cosasi
m’huga cugai kiti ti dama catum’ ami gusuda huco bupo
gusudana ia duburh’ aba. Siari vugadi ti coadaga vutu
ica tas’ aba cati maca. Vpu gat’ oanida pima s'cugati
tuid‘ga cos’ as’ ati pima tuguitoa t’obaga to buy pima
s'cuga tuidiga. Pima t’ huhuguida tudana vpu pima
s’cuga tuidiga, co’ pi ti duguvonidani pima scuga ami
durhu. Doda hapu muduna Jhs,

The next is a Lord’s Prayer from Hervis:

Toca titauacatum ami dacama; scuc amu aca mu
tukica; ta hui dibiana ma tuotidaca; cosassi mu cus-
suma amocacugai titamacatum apa hapa cussudana ina-
tuburch apa mui siarim t’hukiacugai buio ca tu maca,
Pim’ upu ca tukitoa pima scuca ta tuica cosas ati pima
tukitoa t'oopa amidurch pima scuca tuitic; pim’ upu ca
ta dakitoa co diablo ta hiatokidara; cupto ta itucuubun-
dana pim scuc amidurch.,

The fourth, also a Lord’s Prayer, is from the collec-
tion of the Mexican Geographical Society:

Chéga déma cita diicamé izquidma fia meitilla tabus
mattiyaga cosamacai yf, dama cata gussada imidirraba
Sulit ecuadaga butis maca vupuc chuan yiga cosismatito
chavaga tiapisnisquantillos pinitiandand copetullafi imis-
quiandura dod& maduni cetis.

From the same source I also take a Pipago Lord’s
Prayer:

Pan toc momo tamcaschina apeta michucuyca Santo:

the Eud
general];
careful ¢
were cor
the one
even ga}
greater t
between
Pima, it
As is mo
differs gr
pata; it
others it }
dialects ay
these ther

tuca, Sah

5 Prefferkec

tel, Oud Sor
vome, p.3.; Br
Dominical, pp.

. 8A la Op

Clar tan poco
la provenzal d
Poco diferencfs
beh iii, tom,
eves, poco dif

p. 21 6. Cif

7 ‘E’vero, ¢
da tosto a dived
deve, U’Opata, 6

meron, Relacione
den, nachher an
dass sie von eb
Bleichwohl sind
8en liisst, sehr v.
deve ‘Thre Verw
aichten Gliedes,
(orate) sd Rul
‘hen Sprachst
227, 235; Oroico ,

THE DIALECTS OF THE OPATA LANGUAGE, 609

anchut botonia ati chuyca: entupo hoyehui maetachui
apo masima motepa cachitmo, mapotomal pami buemasi-
taapa, jummo tomae, boetoicusipua chuyechica, apomasi
maza china sugocuita juann motupay assimi qui, jubo
gidu matama cazi pachuichica, panchit borrapi. Amen.’

Wedged in between the Pima alto and the Pima
bajo, is the Opata, or Teguima, with its principal dialect
the Eudeve. Although the Opata ana Eudeve have
generally been enumerated as distinct languages, after
careful comparison I think with the missionaries who
were conversant with both, that it wiil be safe to call
the one a dialect of the other. An anonymous author
even says that the difference between them is not
greater than between the Portuguese and Castilian, or
between the French and the Provencal.° Like the
Pima, it is a branch of the Aztec-Sonora languages.
As is most frequent on the Pacific Coast, classification
differs greatly according to fancy; thus it is with the

pata; its classifications have been many, and aniong
others it has been placed with the Pima family. Many
dialects are mentioned, but little is said of them. Of
these there are the Teguis, Teguima, Coguinachi, Ba-
tuca, Sahuaripa, Himeri, Guazaba, and Jova.’ The

5 Pfefferkorn, iv Vater, Mithridates, tom, iii., pt iii., pp. 164-5; Pimen-
tel, Cuadro, tom. ii., pp. 113-15; Doctrina Christiana, in Arte de la Lengua Né-
vome, p.3.; Buschmann, Pima-Sorache, p. 353; Col. Polididmica Mex., Oracion
Dominical, pp. 34-5.

6 * A la Opata se pueden reducir los Edues y Jovas; aquellos, por diferen-
ciar tan poco su lengua de la dpata, como la portuguesa de la castellana, 6
la provenzal de la francesa.’ ‘La nacion Opata d Eudeve, que con muy
poco diferencfan en su idioma,’ Sonora, Descrip. Geog., in Doc. Hist. Mewx.,
série iii, tom. iv., pp. 534, 494. ‘A las opatas se reducen los tovas y eu-
bag poco diferentes en el idioma,’ Alegre, Hist. Comp. de Jesus, tom. ii.,
p. 216,
7‘E'vero, che fra alcune di queste lingue si scorge una tale affinita, che
da tosto a divedere, che esse son nate da una medesima madre, sicome J’ Lu-
deve, U’Opata, e la Tarahumara nell'America settentrionale.’ Clavigero, Sto-
ria Ant, del Messico, tom. iv., p. 21; Hervds, Catdlogo, tom, i., p. 333; Sal-
meron, Relaciones, in Doc. Hist. Mex., stvie iii., tom. iv., p. 68. ‘Auch von
den, nachher anzufiihrenden Opata und Eudeve sieht man aus Pfefferkorn,
dass sie von eben denseiben Missioniren bedient wurden, wie die Pima:
gleichwohl sind die Sprachen derselben, so weit sich aus den V. U. schlies-
sen liisst, sehr verschieden.’ Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., p. 161, Eu-
deve ‘Ihre Verwandtschaft mit dem sonorischen Sprachstamme, als eines
ichten Gliedes, mit erfreulicher Bestimmtheit beweiscu.’ ‘Man kan sie
(Opata) mit Ruhe und ohne viele Einschrinkung ais ein Glied in den sono-
rischen Sprachstamm einreihen.’ Buschmann, Spuren der Aatek. Spr., pp.
227, 235; Orozco y Berra, Geografia, pp. 343-5,

8 : : =.
a nt

700 OPATA LANGUAGES.

Opata is represented as finished, easy to acquire, and
abounding in eloquent expressions.? Of the Eudeve
dialect I insert a few grammatical remarks. In the
alphabet are wanting the letters f, j, 4, w, x, y, and J;
vowels are pronounced as in the Spanish; nouns are
declined withont the aid of articles. Verbal nouns are
frequently used ;—hidsguadavh, painting or writing, from
hidsguan, I write. Nouns as names of instruments are
formed from the future active of verbs, designating the
action performed by the said instrument ;—meétecan, I
chop; future, métetze, by changing its last syllable into
siven, forms métesiven—as a noun, meaning axe or chop-
per. In some cases the ending rina is used instead of
siven;—bicusirina, flute, from bicudan, | whistle, and
bihirina, shovel, from bihdn, I scrape. Abstract nouns
are formed with the particles ragua or sira,—vdde, joy-
ously, vdderagua, joy; déni, good, déniragua, goodness;
déhme, man or people; déhmeragua, humanity. All
verbs are used as nouns, and as such are declined as
well as conjugated :—/idsguan, I write, also means writer;
nemiitzan, I bewitch, is also wizard. Adjective nouns
ending with ¢éri and ei signify quality ;—bavitéri, ele-
gant; aresumetéri, different or distinct; tasdquei, narrow.
The ending rdve denotes plenitude ;—sitordve, full of
honey; sitéri, honey; and rdve, full. Endings in e, 0,
u, signify possession ;—esé, she that has petticoats; ndno,
he that has a father, from nénogua, father; sutiiu, he
that has finger-nails, from suté. Ca prefixed to a word
reverses its meaning ;—crine, married; caceine, not mar-
ried. Sguari, affixed, denotes an augmentative ;—do/zi,
old man; dotz‘sguari, very old man.

DECLENSION OF THE WORD SIIBI, HAWK.

Nom, siibi Aco, siibfo
Gen, siiibique Voc. siibf
Dat. siibt Abl. sib{tze

The plural of nouns is usually formed by duplica-
tion;—dor, man or male, plural dédor; Adit, woman,
8‘ El idioma de los épatas es muy arrogante é elocuente en su espresion,

facil de aprender, y tiene muchas vocxs del castellano.’ Velasco Noticias de
Sonora, p. 164.

I painted,

I have pain

I had paint

I shall paint

EUDEVE GRAMMAR. 701

héhoit, women. Some exceptions to this rule occur;—
as, doritzi, boy, plural vus, applied to both sexes, but
when intended only for males, it is dédorus. In some
cases females employ different words from those used by
the male sex; for example, the father says to his son,
noguat, to his daughter, mérgua; the mother says to
either, ndtzgua; the son says to the father, nondgua; and
the daurhter, mdsgua.

Personal pronouns are nee, I; nap, thou; id, at, or ar,
he, or she; tamide, we; emet, or emide, you; amédt, or
met, these or they. In joining pronouns with other
words, elision takes place, the last letter or syllable of
the pronouns being dropped.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB HIOSGUAN, I PAINT.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

ACTIVE. PABSIVE.
I paint, nee hidsguan I am painted, nee hidsguadauh
Thou patotesh nap hidsguan Thou art painted, nap hidsguadauh
He paints, id, or at hidsguan |Heis painted, id, or at hidsguadauh
We paint, tamide hidsguame | We are painted, tamide hidsguadagua
You paint, emét hidsguame You are painted, emét hidsguadagua
They paint, amet hidsguame They are painted, amet hidsguadagua

IMPERFECT.
I painted, nee hidsguamru | Iwas painted, nee hidsguadauhru

PERFECT,
Thave painted, _nee hidsguari | I have been painted, nee hidsguacauh
or nee hidsguarit

PLUPERFECT,
I had painted, nee hidsguariru | I had been painted, nee hidsguacauhrutu

FIRST FUTURE.
I shall paint, nee hidsguatze | I shall be painted, nee hidsguatzidauh

Paint thou, hidsgua

Paint ye, hidsguavu

I will see that I paint, asmane hidsguatze

I shall see that I be painted, asmane hidsguatzidauh
Even though you paint, venésmana hidsguam

I will that you paint, nee eme hidsguaco naquém
I will that thon be painted, nee eme hidsquarico naquém
Even though I may paint, venésmane hidsguam

Even though I may be painted, venésmane hidsguadauh

If I should paint, nee hidsguatzeru

I should be painted, neo hidsquatziudauhru

There are seven other kinds of verbs mentioned, such
as frequentative, compulsive, applicative verbs, etc.
The numerals show more particularly a strong affinity

702 OPATA LANGUAGES,

to those of the Aztec language: 1. sei; 2. godum,
3. veidum; 4. nauoi; 5. margqui; 6. vusani; 7. seni-
ovusiéni; 8. gos ndvoi; 9. 1; 10. macoi.

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

Tamo Noéno, tevictze catzi, canné tegui uchoa vitzua
teridauh. Tomo canne vené hasém amo quéidagua.
Amo canne hinddocauh iuhtépatz éndaugh, tenictze en-
dahtevén. Quécovi tamo bidagua dqui tame mic. Tame
naventziuh tame piuidedo tamo candde émca; ein tami-
de tamo. Ovi tamo niven tziuhdahteven. Cana tdtzi
Diablo tatacéritze tame huétudenta; nassa tame hipir
cadénitzeuai.’

Of the Opata, there exists a grammar written by
Natal Lombardo, from which a few remarks are here
given. The alphabet: a, b, ch, d, e, g, h, i, k, m, n, 0, p,
r, rh, 8, t, th, tz, u, v, @, 2 Most words end with a
vowel. Long words rre not rare, as chumikanahuina-
guat, name of a plant; Kuguesaguataguikide, spring
(season) ; makoisenignabussanibegua, seventeen. Gender
is expressed either by the addition of the word, male
or female, or by distinct words. The plural is formed
by duplication; the manner of duplicating varies; some-
times the first, and at others the last syllable being re-
peated, and very frequently letters changed ;—7Zema-
chi, lad; plural, tetemachi; hére, squirrel; plural,
hohore; uri, male; plural, urini; vatziguat, brother ;
plural, vapatziguat; maraguat, daughter; plural, mama-
raguat, daughters. Ten declensions are described; they
-may be recognized by different endings of the genitive,
which are: te, ri, st, gui, ni, tzi, ki, ku, ku, pi."
greater number of words belong to the first deciens’
In the 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 19th, the accu
tive and dative are the same as the genitive; in the 8th
the genitive, which ends in ‘wu, is formed from the accus-
ative, while in the 9th, in which the genitive also ends
in ku, the accusative and dative are like the nominative.

9 Smith's Gram, Ileve Lang.; Hervds, in Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt

iii., pp. 165-6; Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii., pp. 154-67; Buschmann, Spuren «
Astek, Spr., pp. 222-9.

Abst
father ;

I paint,
Thou painte
He paints,

I painted,

I had paintec

Paint thou,
Let him pain

Paintir
Having
Having
He whc
He whc
He whc

As in {
Classes of

persons.
ber. Fina
although ;

OPATA GRAMMAR. - 708

Ist t DECHENEION OF THE WORD TAT THE SUN.
Nom. | Gen. titte | Dat. or Acc. titta

2a Rl OF THE WORD KUKU, THE QUAIL.
Nom. kuku | Gen. __—ikukuri | Dat. or Acc. kukuri

8th DECLENSION OF THE WORD CHI, THE BIRD.
Nom. chi | Gen. chimiku | Dat. or Acc. = chimi

9th DECLENSION OF THE WORD TUTZI, THE TIGER.
Nom, tutzi | Gen. tutziku | ‘Dat. or Ace. tutzi

Abstract terms are formed by the affix ragua;—massi,
father; massiragua, paternity; naideni, good; naidenira-
gua, goodness. The word ahka is used for a like pur-
pose ;—uri, man; uriahka, humanity; tossai, white; tos-
saiaika, whiteness. To express a local noun, the
syllable de is added ;—denide, place of light; neomachide,
difficult place. Suraua, guéua, ena, en, essa, and ofze,
signify much, and are used to form superlatives. Per-
sonal pronouns are:—ne, I; ta, we; ma, thou; emido,
you; ¢ or it, he or she; me, they. Possessive pronouns
are:—no, mine; tamo, ours; amo, thine; emo, yours;
are, araku, his; mereki, theirs.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB NE HIO, I PAINT.

PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I pain ne hio We paint, ta, or tamido hio
Thou painbeahy ma hio You paint, emido hio
He paints, i hio They aio! me hio

IMPERFECT. REFECT.
I painted, ne hiokaru | Ihave punta, ne hiosia, or ne hiove
PLUPERFECT. T FUTURE.
I had painted, ne hiosiruta | I shall’ Saini, ne hiosea
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have painted, ne hioseave
IMPERATIVE.
Paint thou, hiotte Paint you, hiovu
Let him paint, hioseui Let them paint, hioseame

Painting, hiopa, or hioko

Having painted, hiosaru, or hiositzi

Having to paint, hioseakoko, or hioseakiko

He who shall paint, hioseakame

He who paints, kiokame

He who painted, hiosi

As in the Eudeve, there are in this language many

classes of verbs, differing mostly in endings of certain
persons, Prepositions and adverbs exist in great num-
ber. Finally J give a few of the conjunctions ;—guetza,

although; vesé, and; nemake, also; naneguari, why, etc.

704 ~ OPATA LANGUAGES.

THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Tamomas teguikaktzigua kakame amo tegua santo

Of our father heaven in hewhois of thee name holy
ah, amo reino tame makte, hinadoka iguati tevepa
is, ofthee kingdom tous __ give, thy will here earth on
ahnia teguikaktzi veri. Chiama tamo guaka veu
be done heaven in go. Of all the days of us food now
tame mak, tame neavere tamo kainaideni ata api tamido
tous give, tous forgive of us bad as also
neavere tamo opagua, kai tame taotidudare; kianaideni

forgive ofus enemy, not tous fall let; bad
chiguadu apita kaktzia.”

of also _—_ deliver.

Following is the Lord’s Prayer in the Jova dialect:

Dios Noiksa: Vantegueca cachi, sec jan itemijunale-
qua itemijunalequa motequin. Veda no parin, embeida
mogitipejepa. Ennio ju giiidade, naté, vite teva, nate
vanteguéca. Necho cuguirra, setata veté toomacd ento
oreird, en tobarurra, como ité yté topa oreira toon oreira
seejin Caa ton surratoga canecho jorrdé sacu nuna
dogiie seejan iguité caagiieta.

Rast of the Opata and Pima bajo, on the shores of
the gulf of California, and thence for some distance in-
land, and also on the island of Tiburon, the Ceri lan-
guage with its dialects, the Guaymi and Tepoca, is spoken.
Few of the words are known, and the excuse given
by travelers for not taking vocabularies, is, that it was
too difficult to catch the sound. It is represented as
extremely harsh and guttural in its pronunciation, and
well suited to the people who speak it, who are de-
scribed as wild and fierce.” It is, so far as known,

10 Lombardo, in Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., pp. 407-445; Heruds, in Vater,
Mithridlales, tom. iii., pt iii., P: 166; Buschmann, Spuren Jer Aztek. Spr., PP:
229-235; Pimentel, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. x., pp. 288-313; Col. Po-
lididmica, Mew., Oracion Dominical, p. 11.

it * Posee un idioma gutural muy dificil de aprender.’ Vels.:co, Noticias de
Sonora, p. 131. ‘Los guaimas,...de la misma lengua.’ Alegre, Hist. Comp.
de Jesus, tom. ii., p. 216. ‘Poco es la distincion que hay entre seri y upan-

uaima,....y nnos y otros casi hablan un mismo idioma.’ Gallardo, in Doc.
. Mee., série iii., pp. 889; Sonora, Descrip. Weog., in Id., p. 6365.

not rel
As in
saw We
similari
are wor
disprove
and the
the hea
that the
when hy
vocabula
language
Woman
iaplation

Wine
Good
Better

, 22 Por sr
Ciones que la
guage is gutt
said that on |
jones where ¢
Anguage spol
that these a

SUPPOSED CERI AND WELSH SIMILARITIES. 705

not related to any of the Mexican linguistic families.’
As in many other languages, some have fancied they
saw Welsh traces in it; one writer thought he detected
similarities to Arabic, but neither of these speculations
are worth anything. The Arabic relationship has been
disproven by Sefior Ramirez, who compared the two,
and the statement regarding the Welsh is given on
the hearsay of some sailors, who are said to have stated
that they thought they discovered some Welsh sounds,
when hearing the Ceris speak.” I give here the only
vocabulary which I have been able to find of this
language :

a ee

Woman jidja Horse cai
Eogoleson jiciri Room (chamber) migenman
Milk junin More amen
Wine amat Less tunguré
Good tanjajipe Little jinas
\ jipe

12 ‘Por su idioma. ...se aparta completamente de la filiacion de las na-
ciones que la rodean.’ Orozco y Berra, Geoyrafia, pp. 42, 353-4, ‘Their lan-
guage is guttural, and very different from any other idiom in Sonora. It is
said that on one occasion, some of these Indians passed by a shop in Guay-
mas, where some Welsh sailors were talking, and on hearing the Welsh
language spoken, stopped, listened, and appeared much interested; declaring
that these white men were their brothers, for they had a tongue like their
own.’ Stone, in Hist. Mag., vol. v., p. 166; Lavandera, quoted by Ramirez,
in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. ii., p. 148. and Ramirez, in Id., p. 149.

Vol. IT. 45

CHAPTER VIII.

NORTH MEXICAN LANGUAGES.

Tue Canrra AND 1Ts DiraLtects—Canita GRAMMAR—DraLEcTiIc DIFFERENCES
OF THE Mayo, Yaqui, AND TEHUECO—COoMPARATIVE VOCABULARY —
Caurta Lorp’s PraverR— THE TARAHUMARA AND ITs DIALEcTS— THE
TARAHUMARA GRAMMAR — TARAHUMARA LORD’s PRAYER IN TWo DIALEcTS
—TueE Concuo, Tue Toxsoso, THE JuLIME, THE Piro, THE Suma, THE

Curnagra, THE Tunar, THE Irnitina— Tesano—-Trsano GramMMar—

SPECIMEN OF THE TeJANo— THE TEPEHUANA-—TEPEHUANA GRAMMAR

anp Lorp’s Prayer— ACAXEE AND ITs DraueEcts, THE Topra, Sasatso,

AND XIxIME— THE ZacatTeEc, CazcaNk, Mazapriue, Hurtconr, Guacut-

CHILE, COLOTLAN, TLAXOMULTEC, TECUEXE, AND TEPECANO—THE Cora

AND ITs DrauEcts, THE Movrzicat, TEACUAEITZICA, AND ATEACARI—

Cora GRAMMAR.

We now come to the four Aztec-Sonora languages
before mentioned, the Cora, the Cahita, the Tepehuana,
and the ‘'arahumara, and their neighbors. I have al-
ready said that notwithstanding the Aztec element
contained in them, they are in no wise related to each
other.

In the northern part of Sinaloa, extending across the
boundary into Sonora, the principal language is the
Cahita, spoken in many dialects, of most of which
nothing is transmitted to us. Numerous languages,
which were perhaps only dialects, are named in this
region, and by some classed with the Cahita, but the
information regarding them is vague and contradictory.

No vocabularies or other specimens of them can be
(700)

obtair
were
Guaza
Miah
Auaqadu
There
tinct;
Macoy;
Tepagu
two dis
de Con
Mocorit
which )

appear
the best
The Ca

1 Mocor
Hist, de los
da Zoe.’ |
‘ Comopori:
mes,’ /d.,
207. Zuaq
una lengua
de Jesus, to
reconocido ¢
la gramAtica

guas de este
distinta de |
den la len
articular
engua es di
as lenguas
80n chicuratd
Y distintas le
Pp. 363-409,
cahita 4 los
‘El ahome y

Hist, ant 8
consigulente ¢
Noticias de So.
rlos de ‘ua
Ribas, Hist. de
lengua cahita
tehueco; aden
‘ Tres dialecto
y Berra, Geog

NUMEROUS LANGUAGES IN SINALOA. 707

obtained, nor can I find anywhere mention that any
were ever written. Of these there are the oe, the
Guazave, the Vacoregue, the Batucari, the Aibino, the
Ocoroni, which are mentioned as related, as also the
Zuaque and Tehueco, and the Comoporis and Ahome.
There are also the Mocorito and Petatlan, both dis-
tinct; the Huite, the Ore, the Varogio, the Tauro, the
Macoyahui, the Troe, the Nio, the Cahuimeto, the
Tepague, the Ohuero, the Chicorata, the Basopa, and
two distinct tongues spoken at the Mission San Andres
de Conicari, and four at the Mission of San Miguel de
Mocorito.' The only dialects of the Cahita, regarding
which a few notes exist, and which at the same time
appear to have been the principal ones, according to
the best authorities, are the Mayo, Yaqui, and Tehueco.?
The Cahita language is copious, but will not readily

1 Mocorito, Petatlan and Ocoroni are ‘ gentes de varias lenguas.’ [i'as,
Hist, de los Trivmphos, p. 34. Ahome are ‘gente de diferente lengua llama-
da Zoe.’ Zoes ‘son de la misma lengua con los Guacaues,’ Id., p. 145,
‘Comoporis los quales aunque eran de la misma lengua de los mansos Aho-
mes,’ /d., p. 153. ‘ Huites de diferente lengua’ from the Cinaloas. Jd., p
207. Zuaques and Tehuecos ‘ser todos de una misma lengua.’ Batuca ‘de
una lengua no dificil, y parecida mucho 4 la de Ocoroiri.’ Alegre, Hist. Comp.
de Jesus, tom. ii., pp. 10, 186. ‘La lengua es ore.’ ‘ Varogia y segun se ha
reconocido es lo mismo que la taura, aunque varia algo principalmente en
la gramatica.’ ‘La lengua es particular macoyahui con que son tres las len-
guas de este partido.’ In San Andres de Conicari ‘la lengua es particular y
distinta de la de los demas pueblos si bien todos los demas de ellos entien-
den la lengua tepave, y aun la caita aunque no la hablan.’ ‘La lengua es

articular que Haman troes.’ ‘La gente en su idioma es guazave.’ ‘La
engua es distina y particular que llaman nio.’ ‘Conversan entre sf distintas
las lenguas de cahuimetos y ohueras.’ ‘Lenguas que hablin entre si y
son chicurata y basopa.’ San Miguel de Mocorito ‘de cuatre parcialidades
y distintas lenguas.’ Zapata, Relacion, in Doc. Hist. Mew., série iv., tom. iii.,
pp. 363-409. ‘Los misioneros..,.colocaban en las misiones de la lengua
cahita 4 los sinaluas, hichucios, zuaques, biaras, matapanes y tehuecos.’
‘El ahome y el comopori son dialectos muy diversos 6 lenguas hermanas
del guazave.’ Orozco y Berra, Geografia, p. 35; Vater, Mithridates, tom.
iii., pt iii., pp. 154-7; Hassel, Mex, Guat., p. 175.

‘La nacion Hiaqui y por consecuencia la Mayo y del Fuerte,....que
en la sustancia son una misina y de una propia lengua,’ Cancion, in Doe.
Hist. Mex., sério iv., tom: ii., p. 246. Mayo and Yaqui; ‘Su idioma por
consigulente es el mismo, con la diferencia de unas cuantas voces.’ Velasco,
Noticias de Sonora, p. 82. Mayo ‘su lengua es la misma que corre en los
rios de Cuaque y Hiaqui.’ Yaqui ‘que es la mas general de Cinaloa.’
Ribas, Hist. de los Triumphos, pp. 237, 287; Laet, Novus Orbis, p. 286. ‘La
lengua cahita es dividida en tres dialectos principales, el mayo, yaqui y
tehueco; ademas hay otros secundarios.’ Pimentel, Cuadro, tom, i., p. 48.
‘ Tres dialectos principales, el zuaque, la maya y el yaqui.’ Balbi, in Orozco
y Berra, Geografta, p. 35; Brasseur de Bourboury, Esquisses, p. 31.

708 NORTH MEXICAN LANGUAGES.

express polite sentiments. Father Ribas says that the
Yaquis always speak very loudly and arrogantly, and
that when he asked them to lower their voice, they an-
swered: ‘Dost thou not see that I am a Yaqui?”
which latter word signifies, ‘he who speaks loudly.’ *

A grammar of the Cahita was written in the year
1737, of which I give here an extract. The alphabet
consists of the following letters: a, 6, ch, e, h, i, 7, , J,
M, 1, 0, P, 7, 8, t, U,V, Y, 2, t.

There are three declensions; two for nouns, and the
third for adjectives. To the first belong those words
which end in a vowel, and also the participles ending
with me and w; to the second, those ending with a con-
sonant. Nouns ending with a vowel, and adjectives, form
the plural by appending an m to the singular ;—tabu, rab-
bit; tabum, rabbits. Those ending with a consonant
affix im, and those ending with ¢ affix zim;—waros, hare;
parosim, hares; uikit, bird; wikitzim, birds. The per-
sonal pronouns are: inopo, neheriua, neheri, nehe, ne, 1;
itopo, iteriua, itee, te, we; empo, eheriua, eheri, ehee, e,
thou; empom, emeriua, emeri, emee, em, you; uahaa,
uahariua, uahari, he; wameriua, wameri, wamee, im, they.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO LOVE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I love, ne eria We love, te eria
Thou lovest, e eria You love, em eria
He loves, eria They love, im eria
IMPERFECT. PERFECT.
I loved, ne eriai | I have loved, ne eriak
PLUPERFKCT, FIRST FUTURE.
T had loved, ne eriakai | I shall love, ne erianake
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have loved, ne eriasunake
IMPERATIVE.
Love thou, e eria, or e eriama
Let him love, eria, or eriama
Love you, em eriabu, or em eriamabu
Let them love, im eriabu, or im eriamabu

3 * Su idioma es muy franco, nada dificil de LS cod eagles susceptible de
reducirse 4 las reglas aticales de cualquiera nacion civilizada.’ Velasco,

Noticias de Sonora, p. 75.

4¢En hablar alto, y con brio singulares, y grandemente arrogantes.’
* No vés que soy Hiaqui: y sO porn essa Voge M nombre, significa,
el que habla a gritos.’ Ribas, Hist, de los Trivmphos, p. 285.

Not even
The
and ‘Tel
use the
occurs j
consona
tusta,
short, w
Jection <
others
of inopo,.
the Teh
The plu
the Yaqu
To ill
comparati
doctrina,
dialects;

Father
Our

GRAMMAR OF THE CAHITA.

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE,
If I love, ne eriauaua, or eriana

OPTATIVE.
O that I may love, netziyo eriayo

: PRESENT PARTICIPLE.
Loving, eriakari, eriayo, eriako, or eriakako

INFINITIVE PASSIVF.
To be loved, erianaketeka, or erianakekari

He who loves, eriame He who was loved, eriau
He who has loved, eriakame He who had loved, eriakan
He who will love, erianakeme

Of the many meres T only insert the following :—

ui Below vetukuni, tukuni
tzi Toward venukutzi, patiua
ye For vetziu

uepatzi, patzi Within uahiua

vepa Whence kuni, uni

CONJUNCTIONS.
vetzi, suri, huneri, soko = As if siua
mautzi Thus huleni
vitzi, tepa Besides ioentoksoko, ientoik
Not even tepesan If sok

The dialectic differences between the Mayo, Yaqui,
and Tehueco are as follows;—the Yaquis and Mayos

use the letter 4, where the Tehuecos use s when it
occurs in the middle of a word, and is followed by a
consonant;—ftuhia, by the Tehuecos is pronounced
tusta. Other words also, by some are pronounced
short, while others pronounce them long. The inter-
jection of the vocative is with some /iwa, and with
others me. The pronoun nepo, the Yaquis use instead
of inopo. The Mayos use the imperfect as before given;
the Tehuecos end it with ¢, and the Yaquis with n.
The pluperfect of the Tehuecos ends with 4; that of
the Yaquis with kam; that of the Maya with kai.

To illustrate dialectic differences, I insert a short
comparative vocabulary, made up from a dictionary, a
doctrina, and from words of the Mayo and two Yaqui
dialects:

DICTIONARY DOCTRINA MAYO YAQUI YAQUI

Father achai atzai hechai achay achai
itom itom itom itom
katek katek katek katek
aioiore ioiori Nori Nori
em em em em

710 NORTH MEXICAN LANGUAGES.

DICTIONABY DOCTRINA MAYO YaQur YAQUI
Name tehua tehuam tegam teguam teguam
Bread buahuame buaieu buanakem buullem buaye
Daily matzukve makhukve makehut matehui machuk
Give amaka amika amika amika mika
To day ieni ieni hene jan hien
Of vetana betana betana betana betana

The Lord’s Prayer in the Cahita:

TItom atzai teuekapo katekame emtehuam checheuasu
Our father heavenin he who is thy name very much

ioioriua, itom ipeisana emiauraua emuarepo imbuiapo
be respected, to us thathemaycome thy kingdom thywill earth in
anua aman teuekapo anua eveni. Makhukve itom
letit be done also heaven in isdone as. Each day our
buaieu ieni itom amika, itome sok alulutiria itom
bread to-day tous give, tous also forgive us
kaalanekau itome sok alulutiria eueni itom beherim

sins we also we forgive as our enemies
kate sok itom butia huena kutekom uoti: emposi
not and tous _ lead fall -* temptation in: thou

aman itom ioretua katuri _betana.
also us save no good (bad) of.

The Lord’s Prayer in the Yaqui dialect:

Ytoma chay teque canca tecame emteguam cheheg:1a-
sullorima yem iton llejosama. Emllauragua embalepo
ynim buiajo angua. Aman teguecapo anguaben mate-
hui itom buallem yan sitoma mica. Sor y toma a
hitaria cala ytom 4 hitaria y topo 4 litariame ytom
begerim catuise ytom bulilae contegotiama, ca juena

cuchi emposu juchi aman ytom llovetuane caturim be-

tana. Amen Jesus."
Kast of the Cahita, in the states of Chihuahua,
Sonora, and Durango, an uncivilized and _ barbarous
people inhabit the Sierra Madre, who speak the Tara-
umara tongue, which contains the same Aztec element
as the Cahita, but is otherwise, as previously stated, a

distinct language. The principal dialects are the Varogi
5 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., pp. 456-91, Heruds, in |

tom. iii., pt iii., pp. 157-8; Buschmann, Spuren der Azt:
Ternauz-Compans, in Nouvelles Annales Voy., 1841

thridates,
ap. 211-18;
vii., pp. 260-

87; Col. Polidiémica, Mex., Oracion Dominical, p. 49.

Guaz
diffic
nunc
omitt
syllak
nouns
and
the fo
8, t, u
matics
spoker
in pla
formec
muki, |
the pl
by du;
indicat
annexi
bukira,
by add

I count,
Thou coun
He counts,

]
I have cour
I shall ses

Count thou,
Count you,
Let us coun

6 * Varo
varia algo
misma aun
Doc. Hist,

GRAMMAR OF THE TARAHUMARA LANGUAGE, 711

Guazapare and Pachera.© The Tarahumara is a rather
difficult language to acquire, mainly owing to its pro-
nunciation. The final syllables of words are frequently
omitted or swallowed, and sometimes even the first
syllables or letters. The accentuation also differs much,
nouns generally being accentuated on the penultimate,
and verbs on the ultimate. The alphabet consists of
the following letters: a, b, ch, e, g, 1, j, k,l, m, n, 0, p, 7,
8, t, u,v, y. These letters, and also the following gram-
matical remarks refer specially to the language as
spoken in Chinipas. Other dialects have the letter 1
in place of j or r, and z for s. The plural of nouns is
formed by duplicating a syllable;—muki, woman; mu-
muki, women; or, in some cases an adverb, indicating
the plural, is appended. Patronymics form the plural,
by duplicating the last syllable. The particle gua also
indicates the ,'ural. The possessive case is formed by
annexing the syllable ra to the thing possessed ;— Pedro
bukidra, house of Pedro. Comparatives are expressed

by adding the terminal be;—gara, good; garabé, better ;
and superlatives by simply putting a heavier accent on
the comparative terminal;—rer¢é, low; rerebé, lower;
rerebéé, lowest. Personal pronouns are: nejé, 1; muyjé,
thou; seni, he; tamué or ramujé, we; emeé or emé,
you; giiepund, they.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO COUNT.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I count, nejé tara. We count, ramujé tar4
Thou countest, mujé tara You count, emejé tar&
He counts, senu tara They count, guepuna tard

PERFECT. PLUPERFECT,
I have counted, nejé taraca | Ihad counted, _nejé tarayéque

FIRST FUTURE. SECOND FUTURE.
I shall count, nejé tardra | I shall have counted, nejé taragépera

IMPERATIVE.

Count thou, tara Let them count, tardra
Count you, tarasi Do not count, caté tarisi
Let us count, tarayéque

6 ‘ Varogia y segun se ha reconocido es |» mismo quv la taura aunque
varia algo principalmente en la gramitica.’ Guazapare ‘la lengua es la
misma aunque ya mas parecida 4 la de los t.raumares.’ Zaputa, Relacion, in
Doc. Hist, Mew., serie iv., tom. iii., pp. 388, 390, 334, et seq.; Steffel, in Murr,

712 NORTH MEXICAN LANGUAGES.

PRESEN: SC BJUNCTIVE.

If { count, soneca tarfra If we count, sotamenecé tarara
If thou count, somuc& tardra If they count, sopucé tarira
If he count, sosenuca tardra
IMPERFECT.

If I did count, soneca tarareyéque
He who cou:ts, taraydmeque They who have to count, tri améri
Counting, taroyé He who has to count, tarabéri
Having cowted, tarasigo 7

Of the different dialects there are five specimens, all
Lord’s Prayers, a comparison of which will show their
variations. The first is from Father Steffel:

Tami Nond, mami regui guami gatiki, tam{ noinéruje
mu regud seliméa rekijena, tami neguéruje mt: jelaliki
henni guetschiki, mapt hatschibe réguega quam{. Tam{
nutituje hipeli, tami guecdiuje tami guikeliki, matamé
hatschibe réguega tami gueciuje putaé tami guikejimeke,
ké td tami sdtuje, telegatigameke mechcdé huldé. Amen.

The second is from Tellechea, who lived in Chinipas
and at Zapdpan:

Tamu nond repé regiiegdchi atigameque mutegudrar{
santo nireboa, mu semirari regiiegdchi atigd, tama jurd
muyerari jenayiiichiqui mapt regiieg’ eguarigua repi
regiiegichi. Sesenti ragiié tami nitugira, jipe ragiid
tam{ neji, tami cheligiié tamucheina yori yom mata-
meregiiegia cheligué tami ayorigudimeque uché mapi
requ{ chati ju mecdé mu jurd, mapi tami tayordbua
quéco,

The third is in the dialect spoken in the district of

Mina:

Taminond tehuastiqui tehuara santi riboa razihuachi
tamuperdé arimihuymira nahuichi chumiricé tehuane-
huario teamonetellé sinerahué hiperahui tamene}i.
Seoriqui cahuillé chumaricd cahuillé quiamoquéd ta-
rubé chimerd chiniariqui masti nahuchimoba. Amen
Jesus,

Nachrichten, pp. 296-800; Ftibas, Fist. de los Trivmphos, p. 692; Pimentel,
Cuadro, tom. i., \». 363; Orozco y Berra, Geografia, p, 34,
7 Tellechea, Compendio Gram, del Idioma Tarahumar, pp. 2-3.

llelé 1j
mi, re

Hon
que m
relra q
gal rey
brami {
megé,
guichay
mane b

Althe

latin d&
and th
matical
tion of
combina
end-syll
words te
cation, ¢
All thes
similarit
number
of the A
able.”

Passin,

8 Telleche
(eog., Boleti
366-100; Stes
874; Ternauy
260-287 ; Vat
Mex., Oracion

any affinity w
Sesnmetio,’ y
doch gross ge}
Munboldt, i,

10 Witheini

TARAHUMARA LORD’S PRAYERS. 713

For the next two no localities are given:

Tami nono guami repdé reguegachi atiame: td chei-
quichi ju, maipu miireg uéga rep’ asagi mu atiqui:
Jend ibi, guichimdba quima neogarae mu nagudra; mu
Held litae guichimdba mii loldra guali mii cii mollenara,
mi, rep’ reguegachi. Amen Jesus.

Hone tami niguéga matu ati crepa: guebrucd nilrera
que mubregud. Tami nagiiibra que munetebrichi, nil-
relra que mu el rabrichi gend giiichimoba: mapu bregue-
gal repa. Brami gogudme epilri bragiie brame jipeya,
brami giiecagiie. Mata igui giiici mapu bregiiega bra-
megé. Giiecagiie mapu brami gitique ta nobri brami
guichavari que chitichi natabrichi. Habri brami guaini
mane brisiga equimé, Amen Isuis.®

Although in possession of Tellechea’s grammar, Gal-
latin denies the connection between the Tarahumara
and the Aztec.’ I give here some of their gram-
matical resemblances. These are, the incorpora-
tion of the noun with the verb in some cases; the
combination of two verbs, the dropping of the original
end-syllables when joining or incorporating several
words together, the formation of the plural by dupli-
cation, and the traces of a reverential end syllable.
All these are important points, and combined with the
similarity—in some cases even identity—of a great
number of words, they make the relationship or traces
of the Aztec language in the Tarahumara incontest-
able.”

Passing to the north-eastern part of Mexico I enter a

8 Tellechea, Compendio Gram. del Idioma Tarahumar; also in Soc, Mex,
Geog., Boletin, tom. iv., pp. 145-68, and in Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., pp.
366-400; Steffel, Tarahwmarisches Woérterbuch, in Murr, Nachrichten, pp. 296-
374; Ternaue-Compans, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1841, tom. xcii., pp.
260-287; Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii, pp. 144-54: Col, Polididmica,
Mex., Oracion Dominival, pp. 40-43.

9*Have no resemblance with the Mexican,’ Gallatin, in Aimer, Ethno,
Soe., Transact,, vol. i., p. 4. ‘This (the Tarahumara) has not in its words
any affinity with the Mexican; and the people who speak it have a decimal
arithmetic,’ Id., p. 203, ‘Ihre Achnlichkeit mit dem Mexikanischen, . . .ist
doch gross genug.’ Vater, Mithridates, tom, iii., pt iii., a 143; Wilhelm von
Humboldt, in Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek, Spr., pp. 46-50,

10 Wilhelm von Humboldt, in Buschmann, Spuren der Astek, Spr., p. 60,

714 NORTH MEXICAN LANGUAGES.

totally unknown region, of whose languages mention is
made, but nothing more. Neither vocabularies, nor
grammars, nor any other specimens of them exist, and
in most cases it is even difficult to fix the exact geo-
graphical location of the people who are reported to
have spoken them. Of these I name first the Concho,
which language is reported to have been a dialect of
the Aztec, but this is denied by Hervas, who had his
information from the missionary Palacios, although the
. latter admits that the people spoke the Aztec. Their
location is stated to have been near the Rio Concho.”
In the Bolson de Mapimi, the Toboso language is
named. This people are reported to have understood
the language of the Zacatecs and the Aztecs; and
furthermore, to have had their own distinct tongue.”
Other idioms mentioned near the same region are the
Hualahuise, Julime, Piro, Suma, and Chinarra.” Of
the Piro I find the following Lord’s Prayer:

Quitatic nasaul e yapolhua tol hiy quiamgiana mi
quiamnarinai. Jaquie mugilley nasamagui hikiey quiam-
samaé, mukiataxim, hikiey, hiquiquiamo quia inaé,
huskilley nafoleguey, gimoréy, y apol y ahuléy, quia-
liey, nasan e pomo llekey, quiale mahimnague yo sé
mahi kand rrohoy, se teman quiennatehui mukilley,
nani, nani emolley quinaroy zetasi, nasan quianatehuey
pemcihipompo y, qui solakuey quifollohipuca, Kuey
maihua atellan, folliquitey. Amen.

The Irritila, which was spoken by a number of
tribes, called by the Spaniards the Laguneros, inhab-
iting the country near the Missions of Parras, is an-
other extinct tongue. In Coahuila, the Tejano or
Coahuiltec language is found. A short manual for the
use of the priests was written in this language by
oe AE ec apn bon Sir

12 Villa-Serior y Sanchez, Theatro, tom. ii., p. 348; Pascual, in Hist, Doc.
Mez., série iv., tom. iii., p. 201; Busehmann, Spuren der Aztele. Spr., p. 172;

Orozco y Berra, Geografia, pp. 308-9.
13 Oroxco y Berra, deogr tha, pp. 309, 327; Col. Polidiédmica, Mex., Gracion

Dominical, p. 36.
4 Orozco y Berra, Geografia, p. 309.

tongu
langu
all, an
nami,
presse:
you a
by ojuc
verb it
the ve
dividec
differer
say chi
ing sou
& specir
Mej
guatzar
pitucud
pan t’ o
jim: sa
namo, 1
mem jat
And
sleep, n
great fir
died wit
hell; the
The T
the head

1 Piment

EXTRACT FROM THE COAHUILTEC GRAMMAR. 715

Father Garcfa, and from it a few grammatical observa-
tions have been drawn by Pimentel.

The letters used are a, c, ch, e, g, h, i, j, 1, m,n, 0, p, 9,
8, t, u, y, t. The pronunciation is similar to that of
some of the people who inhabit the Northwest Coast, as
the Nootkas, Thlinkeets, and others. A kind of clicking
sound produced with the tongue, which Garcia desig-
nates by an apostrophe, thus—c’, q’, ?’, p’, 7. The c,
and q’, are pronounced with a rasping sound from the
root of the tongue; ?¢’ with a click with the point of the
tongue against the teeth, etc. There is no plural in the
language except such as is expressed by the words many,
all, and some. Pronouns are ézin, I; jamin, or am, thou;
nami, mine; ja, thine; jami, ours. Interrogation is ex-
pressed by the letter e after the verb;—japté péé? are
you a father? po being the verb. Negation is expressed
by ojua, if it stands for ‘no’ alone, but if it is joined toa
verb it is expressed by ajdm following the verb, and if
the verb ends with a vowel, by yajd@m. The Tejano is
divided into several dialects which vary chiefly in the
different pronunciation of some words: as for che they
say chi, or so for se, cue instead of co, etc. The follow-
ing soul-winning dogma with the translation is given as
a specimen of the language.

Mej t’ oajim pitucié) pinta pilaptm chojai pilchéd
guatzamdjuajimaté, pilfipajudj sauj chojai: Mej t’ oajim
pitucudj pilapdujpacd san paj guajitam até; taléra apnin
pan t’ oajim tucuet apcué tucué apajdi sanché guasidya-
jam: sajpim pinapss pitachij6, mai cu‘in tzam aguajti,
namo, namo t’ oajim tucuém miaisdjic mem; t’ djacat
mem jatilam ajam 6?

And there in hell there is nothing to eat, nor any
sleep, nor rest; there is no getting out of hell; the
great fire of hell will never be finished. If thou hadst
died with those sins, thou wouldst be already there in
hell; then, why art thou not afraid?”

The Tubar is another idiom which was spoken near
the head-waters of the Rio Sinaloa. Ribas affirms that

15 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii., pp. 409-413,

716 NORTH MEXICAN LANGUAGES.

two totally distinct languages are spoken by this people.
From a Lord’s Prayer preserved in this tongue Mr
Buschmann after careful comparison has concluded that
the Tubar is another member of the Aztec-Sonora group,
showing, as it does, unmistakeable Aztec traces. I in-

sert the Lord’s Prayer with translation.

Ite cafiar tegmuecarichin catemat imit tegmuarat
Our father heaven in art thy name
milituraba teochigualac ; imit huegmica carin iti bacachin-

be praised; thy kingdom us to
assisaguin, imit avamunarir echu nafiigualac imo cuigan
come, thy will here be done as well as

amo nachic tegmuecarichin; ite cokuatarit essemer tani-
there is done heaven; our bread daily

guarit iabba ite micam; ite tatacoli ikiri atzomua iki-

to-day us give; our sins forgive as we
rirain ite bacachin cale kuegmua nafiiguacantem caisa
forgive us against evil previously have done not

ite nosam baca tatacoli bacachin ackird muetzerac ite.
us lead in sin of evil deliver us,

The following is a Lord’s Prayer of the Tubar dialect
spoken in the district of Mina in Chihuahua.

Hite caiiac temo calichin catema himite muhari, hui-
turab{ santofietaré himitemoh acar{ hay sesahui hite-
bacachin hitaramaré hechinemolac amo cuira pan amo-
temo calichin hitecocohatari éseme tan huaric. Llava hi-
temicahin tatacoli higuili hite nachi higuiriray hitebacach
in calquihuan nehun conten hitehohui caltehue cheraca
tatacol bacachin hiqu ipé calquihud fiahuité baquit eba-
cachin calaserac. Amen Jesus.”

16‘ Tienen estos indios dos lenguas totalmente distintas: la una, y que
mas corre entre ellos, y demas gente, es de Jas que yo tengo en este partido,
con que les hablo, y me entienden. .. .la otra es totalmente distinta,’ Hervds,
Catdlogo, tom. i., p. 320. Ribas, Hist, de los Trivmphos, p. 118; Vater, Mi-
thridates, tom. iii., pt iii, p. 189. ‘Zwar voll von frend neit und sehr fiir
sich dasteht, aber doch als ein wirkliches sonorisches Glied, bei bestimmten
Gemeinschaften mit den anderen und als vorzugsweise reich an aztekischen
Stoff nusgestattet.... Ihre Ahnlichkeiten neigen abwechselnd gegen die Cora,

Tarahumara, und Cahita, besonders gegen die beiden letzten, auch Hiaqui;

der Tepeguana bleibt sie mehr fremd,’ Buschmann, Spuren der Aztek, Spr.,

pp. 164, 170-1.
17 Col. Polidiémica, Mex., Oracion Dominical, p. 47,

In
Jalis
Tepe!
tural
The '
swallc
to the
under
tion, ¢
meani
represi
4 j ’ k,
tion of

000, bo
occurre
guidoda
pears tc
cidarag
of word
nouns a
we; a

or aa)

me
ou saye
He enya”

I said,

19 ‘La pro
para que can)
cl, Cuadro, td

TEPEHUANA GRAMMAR. 17

In the state of Durango and extending into parts of
Jalisco, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Sonora, is spoken the
Tepehuana language. ® Like the Tarahumara it is gut-
tural and pronounced in a rather sputtering manner.
The Tepehuanes speak very fast, and often leave off or
swallow the end syllables, which occasioned much trouble
to the missionaries, who on that account could not easily
understand them. Another difficulty is the accentua-
tion, as the slightest variation of accent will change the
meaning of a word.” The following alphabet is used to
represent the sound of the Tephuana, a, 0, ch, d, e, g, h,
i, j, k, 1 m,n, 0, p, q. 7, 8, 8c, t, u,v, y. In the forma-
tion of words many vowels are frequently combined, as,
000, bone; wiwie, to drink. Long words are of frequent
occurrence as ;—soigulidadatudadamo, difficult; meit sciu-
guidodadaguitodadamoe, continually. The letter d ap-
pears to be very frequentiy used, as in the word—toddas-
cidaraga, or doadidamodaraga, fright. To form the plural
of words, the first syllable is duplicated. Personal pro-
nouns are ;—aneane, or ane, 1; api, thou; eggre, he; atum,
we; apum, you; eggama, they; im, mine; w, thine; di,
or de, his; wt, ours; wm, yours.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO SAY.

PRESENT INDICATIVE.
T say, aneane aguidi We say, atum aguidi
Thou sayest, api aguid: You say, apum aguidi
He says, eggue aguidi They say, eggam aguidi

IMPERFECT. PERFECT,

I said, aneane aguiditade | T have said, aguidianta or a
aneaneanta agui

FIRST FUTURE. SECOND FUTURE.
I shall say, aneane aguidiague | I shall have said, aneane aquidiamokue

18 det Hist. de los Trivmphos, ». 673; Alegre, Hist. pone. de Jesus,
tom, p. 319; Museo, Mea., tom. iii., p. 269; Zapata, Relacion, in Doe.
ite, Ae , série iv., tom, iii, RP 310-18; Orozco Berra, Geografta, pp. 94,
320; Vater, Mithridates, tom. ii t iii, p. 138; Pimentel, Cena, tom. ii,

b. 48 Buschmann, Spuren der Aslek. Spr., p. 162; Hervis, Catdlogo, tom. i,

19 ‘La pronunciacion es muy gutural y basta el mas ligero cambio en ella
ia que cambien de sentido las palabras.’ Rinaldini, Gramatica, in Pimen-
1, Cuadro, tom. ii., p. 46; Buschmann, Spuren der Autek. Spr., p. 36.

718 NORTH MEXICAN LANGUAGES.

IMPERATIVE.
Let me say, aguidiana ane
Say thou, aguidiani, or aguidiana api
Let him say, aguidiuna eggue
Let us say, aguiuiana atum
Say you, aguidiana apum, or aguidavoramoe
Let them say’, aguidiana eggam
I may say, aneane aguidana
I should say, aneane aguidaguitade
I should have said, aneane aguidaguijatade
If I should say, aneane aguidaguiague
PARTICIPLE.
Saying, aguidimi | Having said, aguidati

He is saying, aguidimijatade
In some places the ending of the imperfect indicative

is kade instead of tade.
CONJUNCTIONS,
And amider Or sciupu
As if appia na Although tumasci, tume
Also jattiki, kat For which ukaidi
And for that ikaidiatut

THE LORD'S PRAYER,
Utogga atemo tubaggue dama santusikamoe uggue

Our father who in heaven above sanctified be he
ututugaraga duviana uguiere api odduna gutuguito-

thy name come thy kingdom thou do thy
daraga tami dubur dama tubaggue. Udguaddaga ud
will aswell earth above heaven. Our food to us
makane scibi ud joigudane ud sceadoadaraga addukate

give to-day tous forgive our sins as
joigude jut jaddune maitague daguito ud.”
weforgive our debtors not tempt us.

The roughest and most inaccessible part of the Sierra
Madre, in the state of Durango, is the seat of the
Acaxee language, which from this centre spreads, under
different names and dialects, into the neighbor-
ing states. Among these dialects are mentioned the
Topia, Sabaibo, Xixime, Hume, Mediotaquel and Te-
baca.” Some writers claim that the Acaxee with all its

9 Pimeniel, Cuadro, tom. fi., pp. 46-68.

#1 Sabaibos ‘eran de la misma lengua y Nacion Acaxee.’ Ribas, Hist. de
los Trivmphos, pp. 471, 491. Sabaibos ‘distinta nacion, aunque del mismo
idioma '—Acaxee. Alegre, Hist. Comp. de Jesus, tom. i., p. 422. ‘Humes, na-
cion distinta de los xiximes aunque tienen una misma lengua,’ Alonso del

differs
toem

cabula
cannot
Aztec

In Zac
Zacate
ne as ¢
nes an
are adj
chile, o
ularies,
tlan, ar

pecano.

In th
by the
It is diy
the hea
mountai
mouth ¢

Valle, in D
afinidad la:
Parras, son
Norden vo1
Br. ausser
Norden der
ebenso viel
Volkeracha!
mentions it

ernaux-Cor
Doce. Hist, |
pp. 12-13, ¢

#2 ‘Indio
lengua de Ia
Descrip, Zac
gua moribu
entes; Deni:
ime addiscit
gBenerica de
Cascon 6 Za
sino que era
las palabras
Tlajomultec
existieron,’
Hist. de los

8 Orozco

Li Apostoll

THE CORA LANGUAGE AND ITS DIALECTS. 719

differences is related to the Mexican, while others, among
taem Balbi, make it a distinct tongue. As neither vo-
cabularies nor other specimens of it exist, the real faré
cannot be ascertained. The missionaries say that ihe
Aztec language was spoken and understood in these parts.
In Zacatecas is mentioned as the prevailing tongue the
Zacatec, besides which some authors speak of the Cazca-
ne as a distinct idiom, while others aver that the Cazca-
nes and Zacatecs were one people. Besides these there
are adjoining them the Mazapile, Huitcole, and Guachi-
chile, of none of which do I find any specimens or vocab-
ularies.* TI also find mentioned in Zacatecas the Colo-
tlan, and in Jalisco the Tlaxomulteca, Tecuexe, and Te-

pecano.”

In that portion of the state of Jalisco, which is known
by the name of Nayarit, the Cora language is spoken.
It is divided into three dialects; the Muutzicat, spoken in
the heart of the mountains; the Teacuaeitzica, on the
mountain slopes; and the Cora, or Ateacari, near the

mouth of the Rio Nayarit, or Jesus Maria. The Aztec

Valle, in Doc. Hist. Mew., série iv., tom. iii., p. 96. ‘Me parece que tienen
afinidad las lenguas topia, acajee y tepchuana, las quales, como tambien la de
Parras, son dinlectos de la Zacuteca.’ Hervds, Vatdlogo, tom. i., p. 327, ‘Im
Norden von Tepehuana enthilt die gebirgige Provinz Topia um den 25° N,
Br. ausser der lingua Topia und der damit verwandten <Acaxee, noch im
Norden der letzteren die Xixime, Sicuraba, Hina und Iluime als Sprachen
ebenso vieler verschiedener in der Niihe der Topia und Acaxee wohnenden
Vilkerschaften.’ Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., Pp. 138-9. Castaneda
mentions in these regions the Tahus, Pacasas, and Acaxas languages, in
Ternaux-Compans, Voy., scrie i., tom. ix., pp. 150-3; Zapata, Relacion, in
Doc. Hist. Mew., série iv., tom. iii., pp. 415-17; Orozco y Berra, Geografia,
pp. 12-13, 319-20; Buschmann, Spuren der Astek, Spr., pp. 173-4.

% ‘Indios cascanes que son los Zacatecas.’ ‘ rt? ie que entendian la
lengua de los Zacatecos.’ Padilla, Cong. N. Galicia, MS., p. 234; Bernardez,
Descrip, Zacatecas, p. 23. ‘ Cazcanes, qui ad fines Zacatecurum degunt, lin-
gua moribusque A caeteris diversi: Guachachiles itidem idiomate differ-
entes; Denique Guamare, qrorum idioma supra modum concisum, difficil-
ime addiscitur.’ Laet, Novus Orbis, p. 281. ‘La lengua mexicana que es la
generica de toda la Provincia,’ Arlequi, Chrén, Zacatecas, p. 52. ‘Sobre el
Cascon 6 Zacateco, no creo que hubiera sido ni aun dialecto del mexicano,
sino que era el mismo mexicano hablado por unos risticos que estroperban
las palabras y que les daban distinto acento.’ Huacbichiles, Tejuejue and
Tiafomulteec ‘Sobre estos idiomas, 6 si les considera dialectos, juzgo que no
existieron.’ Romero Gil, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. viii., p. 499; Ribas,
Hist. de los Trivmphos, p. 676; Hassel, Mex. Guat., p. 159.

3 Orozco Roglt s Geografia, p. 61.

% Apostolicos Afanes, cap. vii., p. 56, ‘Dentro de Reyno de la Galicia que-

720 NORTH MEXICAN LANGUAGES.

element, which is stronger and more apparent in the
Cora than in any other of the three Aztec-Sonora lan-
guages, has been recognized by many of the earliest
writers.” The Cora language is intricate and rather
difficult to learn, as indeed are the other three.” Fol-
lowing are a few grammatical notes taken from Ortega’s
vocabulary.

The letters of the alphabet are a, b, ch, e, h, i, k, m, n,
0, p, 7, t, u,v, a, y, 2, tz. The pronunciation is hard;
there is no established way of expressing the gender.
The names of animated beings, as’ well as inanimate
objects form the plural by the affixes ée, ert or ri, tz! or
zi, and also with the preposition mea, although there
are some exceptions to this rule; for example;—zearate,
bee; zearateri, bees; kanaw, sheep; hanexeri, sheep;
ukubihuame, orator; ukubihuametzi, orators; teatzahua-
teakame, he who is obedient, of which the plural is

daron algunos otras Naciones como son los Cocas, Tequexes, Choras, Te-
cualmes y Nayaritas, y otras que despues de pacificada la tierra han dejado
de hablarse por que ya reducidos los de la jengua Azteca, que era la major
nacion se han mixturado de suerte que ya todos las mas hablan solo una Jen-
gua en toda la Galicia excepta en Ia Provincia del Nayarit.’ Padilla, Cong.

. Galicia, MS., p. 8. ‘La lengua Cora, que es la del Nayar.’ Arricivita,
Crénica Serdfica, p- 89; Orozco i} Berra, Geogrufta, pp. 39, 281-2; Vater,
Mithridates, vol. iii., pt iii., pp. 131-2.

% ‘La lengua mas comun del pais es la chota aunque muy interpolada y
confundida hoy con Ia Mexicana,’ Alegre, Hist. Comp, de Jesus, tom. iii., p.
197. ‘Muchos vocablos de la lengua mexicana, y algunos de la castellana,
los han corisado haciéndolos propios de su idioma tan antiguamente; que
ra hoy en dia corren, y se tienen por Coras.’ Ortega, in Soc, Mex. Geog., Po-

tin, tom. viii., p. 563. ‘No carezco totalmente de datos para creer que los
indios nayares son pimas, 6 al menos descendientes de ellos.’ Orozco y Berra,
Geografia, p. 39. * Es idioma hermano del azteca, tal vez fundado en algu-
nas palabras que tienen la forma 6 las raices del mexicano; nosotros cree-
mos que estas semejanzas no provienen de comunidad de orfgen de las dos
lenguas, sino de las relaciones que esas tribus mantuvieron por espacio de
mucho tiempo.’ Id., p. 282. ‘La core offrent trés-peu d’affinité avec les
autres langues américaines.’ Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., p. 449.
‘Die Cora. ...bewdhrt ihre Verwandtschaft vornehmlich durch die unver-
kennbare Gleichheit einer nur diesen beiden Sprachen gemeinshaftlichen
Formations-Weise des Verbum in seinen Personen und die Bezeichnung ihrer
Beziehung auf ein leidendes Object, wie die Vergleichung des grammatischen
Charakters beyder Sprachen deutlich zeigen wird.’ Vater, Mithridates, ton.
iii., pt iii., pp. 87, 89. ‘Fir verwandte Sprachen, wie sie allerdings scheinen,
haben die Cora und die mexicanische grosse Verschiedenheiten in ihrem
Langan: Withelm von Humboldt, in hmann, Spuren der Aztek. Spr.,

% ‘Tn lengua Cora... .es tan dificil, que si no se esté entre ellos muchos
ajios, no se puede aprender y tiene de particular, que no se asemeja 4 otra
de Ins naciones que tiene vecinas,' Cavo, Tres Siglos, tom. ii., p. 117.

you; aeh
ing are u
they.

that ther
the prese;
1 love,

Thou lovest,
He loves,

There ¢
a long thi

Preposi
apoan, ab
Muutzicat
which ig
the word
for earit, ¢
distinct w.
at times th
ing the ot
Lord’s Pra

Tayaopp
Our father
chemeahau
come
jevira iye «
will as

huima tah

always us

CORA GRAMMAR AND LORD'S PRAYER. 721

teatzahuateakametzi; kurute, crane; kurutzi, cranes; teaxka,
scorpion; teawkate, scorpions. Verbal nouns designat-
ing a person who performs an action, are formed by
affixing to the verb the syllable kame, or huame;—hukaln-
huame, advocate (he who pleads) ; timuacheakame, lover,
(he who loves) ; tichuikame, singer, (he who sings).
Personal pronouns are;——neapue, nea, 1; apue, ap,
thou; achpu, achp, he; iteammo, itean, we; ammo, an,
you; " aehmo, aehm, they; but in conjugating the follow-
ing are used :—ne, 1; pe or pa, thou; fe, we; ze, you; me,
they. Of the conjugation of the verb, it is only stated
that there is no infinitive, and the following example of
the present indicative is given:
1 love, nemuache We love, te muache

Thou lovest, pemuache You love, ze muache
He loves, muache They love, me muache

There are plural and singular verbs;—tachuite, to give
a long thing; tathée, to give long things.

Prepositions are:—helze, tzahta, in; heme, with, for;
apoan, above; tihauze, before. The peculiarity of the
Muutzicat dialect is the frequent use of the letter 7,
which is either appended, or placed in the middle of
the word at pleasure;—for hwihma, they say ruihma;
for earit, erarit. The Teakuaeitzicai dialect has many
distinct words not used in any of the others, so that
at times they are not at all understood by those speak-
ing the other dialects. As a specimen I insert the
Lord's Prayer:

Tayaoppa tahapoa petehbe cherihuaca eiia teaguarira ;

Our father heaven be sanctified be thy name;

chemeahaubeni tahemi eiia chianaca cheaguasteni eiin
come tous thy world done be thy

jevira iye ohianeltapoan tap “up tahapoa. Ta hamuit
will as heaven. Our bread

huima tahetze rujeve ihic ta taa; huatauniraca

always us by wanting to-day us give; forgive

ta xanacat wEAD iteahmo tatahuatauni Utananakante &
ur debtors

1 sin we we forgive
i: Vou. III. “ vel

722 NOKTH MEXICAN LANGUAGES.
vaehre teatkai havobereni xanakat hetze huavaehroaka

help that not _—let us ~ - in a : :
Se ee ee ee
hua.”

1-602;
Ortega, Vocabula Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. viii., pp. 56 }
Pimentel, uote tome it bls 71-88; Vater, ae ee P sig ii Pt eel E:
131-8; Buschmann, Die Lavtverdnderung Aste ;
Gram der Sonor. Spr.

Nauva or |
THE AE
LANGUA
MONY O
¥Yrom |
Lorp’s
—Reva'
Grams

The N
Mexican
part of M
of Andéhu
to the gu
Vera Cru:
the Pacifi
sixth to t
ular but
California
gulf of N
in extent,
dor, and
before seer
Within the
other lang

instance th
(728)

CHAPTER IX.
THE AZTEC AND OTOM{ LANGUAGES.

Nawva on Aztec, CHICHIMEC, AND TOLTEC LANGUAGES IDENTICAL—ANAHUAC
THE ABORIGINAL SEAT OF THE Aztec Tonaue—THE AZTEC THE OLDEST
LANGUAGE IN ANAHUAC—BgavutTy AND RICHNESS OF THE AzTEC-—TxEsTI-
MONY OF THE MISSIONARIES AND RARLY WRITERS IN ITS FAVOR—SPECIMEN
yroM Parepes’ MANUAL—-GRAMMAR OF THE AzTEC LANGUAGE--—AZTEO
Lorp’s Prayer —Tue Oromf a Monysyiiapic Lanavuacre or AnAnvac
—RELATIONSHIP CLAIMED WITH THE CHINESE AND CHEROKEK—-Otomf
Gramman—Otom! Lonp’s PRAYER IN DIFFERENT DIALECTS.

The Nahua, Aztec, or Mexican, is the language of
Mexican civilization, spoken throughout the greater
part of Montezuma’s empire, extending from the plateau
of Andhuac, or valley of Mexico, as a centre, eastward
to the gulf of Mexico, and along its shores from above
Vera Cruz east to the Rio Goatzacoalcos; westward to
the Pacific, and upon its border from about the twenty-
sixth to the sixteenth parallel, thus forming an irreg-
ular but continuous linguistic line from the gulf of
California south-east, across the Mexican plateau to the
gulf of Mexico, of more than four hundred leagues
in extent. Again, it is found on the coast of Salva-
dor, and in the interior of Nicaragua, and we have
before seen its connection with the nations of the north.
Within the limits of the ancient Mexican empire many
other languages besides the Aztec were spoken, as for
instance — Otom{, Huastec, Totonac, Zapotec, Miztec,

(

724 THE AZTEC AND OTOMI LANGUAGES.

and Tarasco, about twenty in all. It has been claimed
by some that the languages of the Toltecs and Chi-
chimecs were different from each other, and from
the Aztec; it has even been intimated that traces of a
language more ancient than any of these have been
found. Pedro de los Rios mentions two words of a
song used in the religious ceremonies at Cholula, tuda-
nian hululae-—which he says belong to a language
not understood by the Mexicans, and Alexander von
Humboldt thinks they may be the remains of some
pre-Mexican language.’ Others, and among them the
Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, claim greater antiquity
for the Maya, affirming that it was spoken in Mexico
before the Nahua-speaking people reached that country.

From a careful examination of the early authorities,
[ can but entertain the opinion that the Toltec, Chichi-
mec, and Aztec languages are one, that the Nahua, or
Aztec, is the oldest known language of Andhuac, and
that contrary conclusions arrived at by certain later
writers are merely speculative. All of the many dif-
ferent peoples mentioned as aboriginal in ancient And-
huac are said to have spoken the Aztec, as the Ulmecs,
Xicalancas, Tecpanecs, Colhuas, Acolhuas, Nahuas, ete.
Ixtlilxochitl, the native ‘Tezcucan historian, relates that
by order of the ruler, Techotlalatzin, the Chichimecs
dropped their own tongue and adopted that of the Aztecs.”

1 *Les Cholulains chantoient dans leur fétes en dansant autour du téo-
calli, et que ce cantique commencoit par les mots Tulanian hululaez, qui ne sont
d’aucune langue actuelle du Mexique. Dans tous les parties du globe, sur
le dos des Cordilléres, comme a l’ile de Samothrace, dans la mer Egée, des
fragmens de langues primitives se sont conservés dans les rites religieux.’
Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., p. 145.

2*Les Culhuas, les 'Tecpanéques, les Aculhuaques, les Chalmecas, les
Ulmecas les Xicalancas....parlaient la méme langue, quoique dans chaque
province avec un autre dialecte; la principale différence consistait dans la

rononciation.’ Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843,
om. xceviii., p. 138. ‘Les Ulmecns, les Xicalancas et les Zacatecas....
avaient les mémes moeurs et la méme langue.’ Jd., p. 137. ‘Car la langue
de ce pays (Xalisco) est le chichimeque, et Marina parlait mexicain. On se
servait, & la verité, aussi dans ce pays d’un Mexicain grossier et barbare, tandis
que Marina le parlait avec beaucoup d’élégance.’ Id., tom. xcix., p. 143. Te-
chotlalatzin ‘fue el primero que usé hablar la lengua nahua, que ahora se
llama Mexicana, porque sus pasados nutica la useron; y asi mandd que todos
los de la nacion Chichimec sla hablasen, en especial todos los que tuviesen oficio
y cargos de republica.’ Ixtlilwochitl, Hist, Chich., in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq.,

Fur
origins
empire

vol. ix., I
la lengua
i., p. 5.

‘ La princ
algo pp. 1

+e. @ran
chimecas
cana,’ To

y Acolhua
Tosamente

Y distintos
rasimos, ¢
diferencia
mecs; ‘su
madre; y ¢
Struidas en
tros dias ec
hoas, eran |
n clara, ¢
Chichimecas
chichimecas
lengua de I
Hist. Gen.,
tiende ser e1
en la Genti
antecedente
Nacion la tr
cera Edad.’
ma lengua
‘ Le nahuatl
centrale, et
Brasseur de
exlvii., pp. 1
chi antichi f
Clavigero, St
mejor decir 4
Ja que apren
Mex. Antiq.,
antiquisimas

1, p. 298,

Tlazcaltecas
Sarmiento, Se
dem Mexiica
Verbreitung d
525. ‘Chich
appear to hav
welche azteki
pdus, Geog. u.
+++. Waren bd
aztekische he
and other ki?
(allatin, in Ay
lNamada toltec
bus nahuatlac
era el mexica

ORIGINALITY OF THE AZTEC TONGUE. 725

Furthermore, internal evidence is all in favor of the
originality of the Aztec tongue. Throughout the great
empire of Andhuac it was the dominant stock language.

vol. ix., p. 217. ‘Los Mexicanos. ...son de los mismos de Colhua, . . por ser
la lengua toda una.’ Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta, Vol. de Doc., tom.
i., p. 5. ‘La lengua de los Mexicanos es la de los Nahuales.’ Jd., p. 187.
‘La principal le pus de la Nueva Espaiia que es de nahunt!.’ Id., p. 231; see
also pp. 10-11. ‘Los Tetzcucanc (lamados Aculhuaques) y los Mexicanos,
...,eran de vn Lenguage.’ ‘La propria, y antigua Lengua, de los Chi-
chimecas Antiguos ...es esta que aoru corre, con comun Nombre de Mexi-
cana.’ Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. i., pp. 31, 33, 44. Tecpaneca, Otomi{
y Acolhua. ‘ El lenguage de estas tres naciones era diverso, no lo era rigo-
rosamente hablando el de la tecpaneca y aculhua, ni pueden Mamarse tales
y distintos de la lengua nahuatl 6 mejicana, sino solamente en el dialecto y
frasimos, al modo gue el portuguez respecto del castellana. La Otomi se
diferencia mas de 5 nahuatl.’ Veytia, Hist. Ant, Mej., tom. ii., p. 44. Ul-
mecs; ‘su lengua era la Nahuatl que hoy llaman mejicana, y se tiene por
madre; y esta fué de la naciun tolteca, y he oido decir 4 personas bien in-
struidas en este idioma, que en algunos pueblos que aun subsisten en nues-
tros dias conocidas por de la nacion ulmeca,’ Jd., tom. i., p. 154. ‘Los Na-
hoas, eran los que hablaban la lengua mexicana, aunque no la pronunciaban
tan clara, como los perfectos mexicanos; y estos Nahoas tambien se llamaban
Chichimecas.’ ‘De estos Chichimecas unos habia que se decian Nahuaz-
chichimecas Namfndose de Nahéas y de Chichimecas porque hablaban algo la
lengua de los Nahdéas 6 Mexicanos y Ja suya propia Chichimeca.’ Sahagun,
Hist. Gen., tom. iii., lib. x., pp. 120, 130, 147. ‘Lengua Nahuatl....se en-
tiende ser en lengua Mexicu-i., ~unque la que al presente hablan y hablaron
en la Gentilidad los Mexicanos no es suya, sino aprehendida de las otras
antecedentes Naciones, y mas bien se debia Hamar Tultéca, porque esta
Nacion la traxo desde su peregrinacion, haviendola parfeooioned en la ter-
cera Edad.’ Boturini, Catalogo, p. 95. ‘Los tlaxcaltecos, que tienen la mes-
ma lengua nahual de México y Tezcuco.’ Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., p. 147.
‘Le nahuatl est sans nul doute une langue déja ancienne dans |l’Amérique
centrale, et plus ancienne méme que l'empire dont Montézuma fut le chef.’
Brasseur de Bourbourg, Lettre, in Nouvelles Annales des Vey., 1855, tom.
exlvii., pp. 154, 153, ‘Io perd non dubito, che la lingua propria dvi Cicime-
chi antichi fosse la medesima degli Acolhui, e Nahuatlachi, «1oe mexsicana.,’
Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., p. 153. ‘Los Mexicanos, 6 por
mejor decir Aztlanecas, no es su natural lengua la que hablan ahora, . es
la que aprendieron en Tezcuco.’ Jellileochit!, Relaciones, in Kinysborough’s
Mex. Antig., vol. ix., p. 345. ‘Que el lenguage mexicano se usd por las
antiquisimas paciones de los Toltecas y Chichimecas.’ [lerviis, Catilogo, tom.
i, p. 298. ‘Xochimilcas, Chalquefios, Tepanecas, Colhuas, Tlahuicas,
Tlazcaltecas y Mexicanos....todas hablan un mismo idioma,’ Heredia y
Sarmiento, Sermon, p. 88. ‘Mehr oder minder zahlreiche Sprachreste aus
dem Mexiianischen Sprachstamme....sind Zeugen von der ehemaligen
Verbreitung der Tolteken im Siiden.’ Miiller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, p.
525. ‘Chichimecs....same family with the Toltecs, whose languave they
appear to have spoken.’ Prescott’s Mex., vol. i., p. 14. ‘Die Chichimeken
welche aztekisch reden.’ Miihlenpfordt, Mijico, tom. ii., pt ii., p- 364; Wap-
pdus, Geog. u. Stat., pp. 34-5. ‘Dass sie Kincs Ursprunges mit den Tolteken,
...- Waren beweist die allen gemeinschaftliche Sprache, welche noch dic
aztekische heisst.’ Buschmann, Ortsnamen, p. 6. ‘The Aztecs, Acolhuas.
and other kindred tribes....were of the same language. ...as the Toltecs.’
(Gallatin, in Amer, Ethno, Soc., Transact., vol. i., p. 203, ‘ Lengua mexicana,
llamada tolteca.’ Orozco y Berra, Geografia, p. 86. ‘Toltecas y las siete tri-
bus nahuatlacas tenian un mismo origen Pablaban Ja misma lengua, que
era el mexicano, nahuatl 6 azteca; pero de ninguna manera succede esto

726 THE AZTEC AND OTOMI LANGUAGES.

Towards the north, as we have seen, sprinklings of it
are found in many places, but nowhere does it appear
in thet direction as a base. Far to the south, in Nic-
aragua, it is again found as the stock tongue, yet with a
disivetic rather than an aboriginal appearance, so that
the testimony of language is all in favor of the plateau
of Anihuac having been the primal centre of the Aztec
tongue, rather than its having been introduced within
any measurable epoch by immigration.

That the Mexican nation dic its utmost to extend
the language is certain. It was the court language of
American civilization, the Latin of medieval and the
French of modern times; it was used as the means of
holding intercourse with non-Aztec speaking people,
also by all ambassadors, and in all official communica-
tions; in all newly acquired and conquered territories it
was immediately introduced as the official language, and
the people were ordered to learn it. It, or its kindred
dialects, can be said to have been the common vernac-
ular in the whole interior of Andhuac, and over a large
part of the Aztec plateau, although within these limits
other tongues were in vogue. Southward, it again ap-
pears along the shores of the Pacific Ocean. It was
spoken as far as Guatemala, in the interior of which it
appeared in the shape of various dialects more or less
corrupted. It can also be traced into Tabasco, and even
into Yueatan on the Atlantic coast. It is again en-
sountered in the gulf of Amatique, whence lines extend
connecting with the branches of the Aztec in Guate-
mala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, It is also possible that
it may at one time have been used even east of the Mis-
sissippi, as will appear from the following statements of
respecto 4 los chichimecas, annqne hasta hoy por un error muy comun 8°
cree lo contrario.’ Pimentel, Cuadro, tom, i, p. 151; Grijalua, Crén, Awjus-
tin, fol. 32. ‘Les rares traditions qui nous sont restées de l’empire des Vo-
tanides, antérieurement A l’arrivée von Nahoas, ne donnent aucune lumiére
sur les populations qui habitaient, & cette époque, les provinces intérieures
du Mexique,...Ce que nous pensons, toutefois, pourvoir avancer avec une
conviction plus entiere, c'est que la majeure partie des nations qui en d’-
pendaient parlaient une seule et méme langue.’ ‘Cette langue était suivant

toute apparence le Maya ou Yueatique.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist, Nat.
Civ,, tom. i., p. 102; Heller, Reisen, p. 379, et seq.

EAS

presen
the di

Of
nent, |
proach
Asia, |
eleganc

3 Acos
cap, 9; Bi
4 Her
lib. iii., o
dilla, Hist
les, que si
Col, de D
tom. iv.,
Herrscha
biss zu de
Gphn Gur
Tazart, Ki
eral que cx
ella hay m
en partes ¢
p. 652, *§
am lieblic
discher Lus
del pais, ¢
naya, Care
est regaradk
Annales de;
ii., fol. 341
Hist. Guat.,
lii., p. 269
Monoyraph
Stephens’ C1
Conder's Me
de Michoacad
Mexique, p,
Amer, Ethn
64-5; Vater
P. 158; Ane
Ind., p. 584

THE AZTEC LANGUAGE EAST OF MEXICO. 727

Acosta and Sahagun. The latter says that the Apala-
ches living east of the Mississippi extended their expe-
ditions and colonies far into Mexico, and were proud
to show to the first conquerors of their country the great
highways on which they traveled. Acosta affirms that
the Mexicans called these A palaches, Tlatuices or mount-
aineers. Sahagun, speaking of them, says ‘‘they are Na-
hoas, and speak the Mexican language.”* This is by no
means improbable, 8 the Aztec is found eastward in the
present states of Tamaulipas and Coahuila, and thence
the distance to the Mississippi is not so very far.‘

Of all the languages spoken on the American conti-
nent, the Aztec is the most perfect and finished, ap-
proaching in this respect the tongues of Kurope and
Asia, and actually surpassing many of them by its
elegance of expression. Although wanting the six

3 Acosta, Hist. Nat. Tud., p. 600; Sahaqun, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., lib. ix.,
cap, 9; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Palenqué, 1.. 39.

4 Herrera, Hist, Gen., dec. ii., lib, v., cap. v., Jib. vi., cap. xii., dee. iii.,
lib. iii., cap. ix., lib. iv., cap. vii., dec. iv., lib. ix., cap. xiii.; Ddvila Pa-
dilla, Hist, Fund., Mex, p. 64. ‘Nicaragua sea y esté poblada de Nahua-
les, que son de la lengua de México.’ Motolinia, Hist. Indios, in Icazbalceta,
Col, de Doc., tom. i., pp. 10-11, 231; Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., p. 103,
tom, iv., pp. 35-37, 108; Solis, Hist. Cong. Mex., tom. i., p. 118. ‘Seine
Herrschaftt, Lands-Sprach, und Glanbens-Sect erstreckten sich einer seits
biss zu dem Markflecken Tecoantepec, das ist zweyhundert, anderseits biss
gehn Guatimala dass ist dreyhundert Meil sehr von der Statt Mexico.’

fazart, Kirchengeschichte, tom. ii., p, 499, ‘Esta lengua mexicana es la gen-

eral que corre por todas las provincias de esta Nueva Espaia, puesto que en
ella hay muy muchas y differentes lenguas particulares, de cada provincia, y
en partes de cada pueblo, porque son innumerables.’ Mendieta, Hist, Keles.,
p. 652, ‘Sie haben viererley Speech darinnen, unter welchen der Mexicaner
am lieblichsten vnd gebriiuc)tichsten (in Nicaragua).’ West und Ost-In-
discher Lustgart, p, 390; (rijalue Crén, Augustin, p, 12,‘ Lia lengua general
del pais, que era la Mejienna.’ Beaumont, Crén, Michoacan, MS., p. 89; Ar-
naya, Carta, in Doe, Hist, Mew., série iv., tom. iii., p. 67, ‘Celui de Mexice
est regardé comme le dialecte original.’ Camargo, Hist. Tlax., in Nouvelles
Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xeviii., p. 138; Burgoa, Geog, Deserip., tom.
ii., fol. 841; Laet, Novus Orbis, p. 252; Wottfried, Newe Welt, p, 286; Juarros,
Hist. Guat., p, 224; Chevalier, Mex. Ancien et Mod, p. 160; Museo Mex,, tom.
iii, p, 269; Palacio, Carta, p- 20; Squier, in Id., note iii, p. 100; Squier's
Monograph of stuthors, p, ix.; Id., Cent. Amer, pp. 320, 327-9, 339, 413;
Stephens’ Ceni, Amer., walk ii, p. 190; Froebel, Aus Amerika, tom, 1., p. 285;
Conder's Mex, Guat., vol, ii., p. 178; Romero, Noticias para formar la Historia
de Michoacan, p, 5; Alegre, ist, Comp. de Jesus, tom, i., pp. 89-90; Baril,
Mewique, p, 212; Brasseur de Bourboury, Id., Bsquisses, p. 24; Gallatin, in
Amer, Ethno. Soe., Transaet., vol. i., pp. 3,8; Orozco y Berra, Geografia, py.
54-5; Valter, Mithridates, tom, iii., pt iii., p. 85; Pimentel, Cuadro, tom, i,
Pp. 158; Anales del Ministerio del Fomento, 1854, tom. i,; Acosta, Hist, Nat.
Ind., p. 584; Id., Hist. de lus Ynd., p. 680.

728 THE AZTEC AND OTOMI LANGUAGES.

consonants, }, d, 7, 7, g, 8, it may still be called full and
rich. Of its copiousness the Natural History of Dr
Hernandez gives evidence, in which are described
twelve hundred different species of Mexican plants,
two hundred or more species of birds, and a large
number of quadrupeds, reptiles, insects, and metals,
each of which is given its proper name in the Mex-
ican language.’ Mendieta says that it is not ex-
celled in beauty by the Latin, displaying even more art in
its construction, and abounding in tropes and metaphors.
Camargo calls it the richest of the whole land, and the
purest, being mixed with no foreign barbaric element;
Gomara, says it is the best, most copious, and most
extended in all New Spain; Davila Padilla, that it is
very elegant and graceful, although it contains many
metaphors which make it difficult; Lorenzana, that it
is very elegant, sweet, and complete; Clavigero, that it is
copious, polite, and expressive; Brasseur de Bourbourg,
that from the most sublime heights it descends to com-
mon things with a sonorousness and richness of ex-
pression peculiar only to itself. The missionaries found
it ample for their purpose, as in it and without the aid
of foreign words they could express all the shades of
their dogmas, from the thunderimgs and anathemas of
Sinai to the sublime teachings of the Christ.

Although the Spaniards usually employed the word
Dios for God, the Aztees offered one as fit, their Teotl,
and Tloque Nahuaque, signifying invisible supreme
being. The many written Aztec sermons, catechisms.
and rituals also attest the copiousness of the tongue.’

5 Hernandez, Nova Plant,

6 See Juan de la Anunciucion, Doctrina Christiana muy cumplida, donde se
ec ntiene la exposivion de todo lo necessario para doctrinar a los Indios y admin-
fatralles los Sanctos Sacramentos, Compuesta en lengua Castellana y Mewivana.
Mex., 1575. Juan de la Anunciacion, Sermonario en lengua Mewicana. Mex.,
1577. Joan Baptista, Advertencias para los Confesores de los Naturales, Mex.,
1600, Rosales, Lou en Obsequio de la Aparicion de Nuestra Sefiora de Guada-
lupe, Poem, 1582. Joan de Mijanqos, Espejo Diuino, en lengua Mexicana,

ex., 1607. Martin de Leon, Camino del Cielo, en lengua Mexicana. Mex.,
1611. Martin de Leon, Manual breve y forma de administrur los Santos Sacra-
mentos & los Indios, Mex., 1640, Carlos Celedonio Velasquez de Cardenas y

Leon, Breve Practica, y Regimen del Confessionario de Indios en Mewicano,
Mex., 1661. Ignacio de Paredes, Promptuario Manual Mewicano, Mex., 1759.

The
not
and
com}
parti
augn
than
and
verb:
adjec
rich
other:
aggre;
inordi
end-s
jur th
Guadse
Manu
of lon

Tlal
in Th
tocacih
nican |
mochi
nimitzs
notlazo
Zin: ie
UC) ecen
nechmo
ie ipam,
eaAtzinoa
mitznot|
huiz, ,
in none

Franciseo d
quez Gastelu,
1716, and 2
Tandas de

Puebla, 181

SPECIMEN OF LONG AZTEC WORDS. 729

The Mexican, like the Hebrew and French, does
not possess superlative nouns, and like the Hebrew
and most of the living European languages, it has no
comparatives, their place being supplied by certain
particles. The Aztec contains more diminutives and
augmentatives than the Italian, and is probably richer
than any other tongue in the world in verbal nouns
and abstracts, there being hardly a verb from whieh
verbal nouns cannot be formed, or a substantive or
adjective of which abstracts are not made. It is equally
rich in verbs, for every verb is the root from which
others of different meanings spring. Agglutination or
aggregation is carried to its widest extent, and words of
inordinate length are not uncommon. In agglutinating,
end-syllables or letters are usually dropped, principally
jur the sake of euphony. <A prayer to the Virgin of
Guadalupe, which is to be found in the Promptuario
Manual of Paredes, I insert here as a curious specimen
of long words:

Tlahuemmanaliztli; ic momoztlat tictocemmacazque
in Tiatocacihuapilli Santa Maria de Guadalupe. Tla-
tocacihuapill¢, Notlazomahuiznantziné, Santa Mariae,
nican mixpantzinco ninomayahui, ninocvvtlaza, ihuan
mochi Noyollotiea, Nanimatica nimitzhohuécapanilhuia,
nimitznomahuiztililia, nimitznotlazotilia, ihuan nimitz-
notlazocamachitia ipampa in nepapan in motetlaocolilit-
zin; ie in Tehuitzin otinechmomacahuililitzino, Auh
vcyeeenca ipampa ca Tehuitzin, Notzopelicanantziné, oti-
nechmopiltzintitzino, ihuan, otinechmoconetitziné. Auh
ie ipampa in axean ihuan yo mochipa nimitznocemma-
eatzinoa, Notetlaocolicanantziné, inic in Tehuitzin ni-
mitznotlazotiliz, ihuan inie dic nimitznoyoltequipachil-
huiz. Auh in Tehuatzin, nimitznotlitlauhtilia: in ma
in nonemian, ihuan in nomiquian xinechmopalehuili,

Francisco de Avila, Platica para hazer a los Indios. Mex., 1717, Antonio Vas.

2 Gastelu, Vontessionario Breve en lengua Mexicana, Catecismo Breve, Puebla,
1716, and 2d edition, 1826, 1838, also 1860, Lecciones Espirituales para las
Tandas de Kjercivios, Puebla, 1841, Pequeno Catecismo en el idioma Mex.
Puebla, 1819. Juan Romuaklo Amaro, Doetrina, Mex, 1840,

730 THE AZTEC AND OTOMI LANGUAGES.

ma xinechmochimalcaltili, ihuan ma in motetlaocoliliz-
cuexantzinco xinechmocalaquili; inic qualli ic ninemiz,
ihuan nimiquiz; inic ¢atepan nimitznomahuizalhuiz, in
ompa in Ilhuicac; in ompa in Dios Itlitocatecpanchant-
zinco in Gloria. Amen.

A word of sixteen syllables, the name of @ plant,
occurs in Hernandez—mihuuittilmoyoiccuitlatonpicixochitl®
Though the Aztecs made verses, no specimens of their
poetry have been preserved except in a translated
form. One, composed by the great Tezcucan, King
Nezahualcoyotl, translated in full in the preceding
volume, gives us an exalted idea of the advanced state
of the language.’

1 Paredes, Promptuario, Manual Mexicano, p. xc.

8 Buschmann, Ortsnamen, p. 24.

9 ‘La mexicana no es menos galana y curiosa que la latina, y aun pienso
que mas artizada en composicion y derivacion de vocablos, y en metaforas,
cuya inteligencia y uso se ha perdido.’ Mendieta, His, Ecles., p. 552, ‘La
langue mexicaine est la plus riche de toute cont.¢e: elle est aussi la plus

ure, car elle n’est ps mélangée d’aucun mot 4tranger.’ Camargo, fist.
lax., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xcix., p. 136. ‘Lengua
Mexicana y Nahuatl, que es la mejor, mas copiosa y mas estendida que
ay en la nueva Espaiia.’ Gomara, Cong. Mew., fol. 2938; Purchas his Pil-
grimes, vol, iv., fol. 1135. ‘La lengua Mexicana, que aunque es muy ele-
Le y graoiosa, tiene por su artificio y agudeza muchas metaforas, que la
azen dificultosa.’ Davila Padilla, Hist. Fund, Mew., p. 31. ‘Malgrado la
mancanza di quelle sei consonanti é una lingua copiosissima, assai pulita, e
sommamente espressiva.’ Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. ii., p. 171.
‘Es muy elegante este idioma, dulce, y muy abundante de Frases, y compo-
siciones,’ Cortés, Hist. Nueva Espava, p. 5; Laet, Novus Orbis, pp. 240-1;
Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., p. 635; Miiller, Reisen, tom. iii., pp.
105-8. ‘Su lengua es la mejor y mas polida.’ (Tezcuco.) Herrera, Hist,
Gen., dec. iii., lib. ii., cap. x. ‘La mas elegante la Tezcucana como la Cas-
tellana en Toledo,’ Vetancurt, Teatro Mex., pt ii., p. 14; Boturini, Idea, p.
142; Humboldt, Vues, tom. ii., pp. 382-3. ‘Esta lengua mas elegante y ex-
pressiva que la Latina, y dulce que la Toscana,’ Granados y Galves, Tardes
Amer., p. 401. ‘La langue mexicaine est riche comme les autres langues
indiennes; mais, comme elles, elle est matérielle et n’abonde pas en mots
significatifs d’idées abstraites; comme elles, elle est 8 nithtke ue dans sa
structure, et n'en différe, quant A ses formes, que par les détails qui n’af-
fectent point son génie et son caractére. Elle nbonde en particules in ter-
calées,’ Du Ponceau, Mémoire, p. 255; Sonneschmid, Remarks on Mex, and
the Mex, Lang., in Amer. Monthly Mag., vol. iii., P 118; Lang’s Polynesian
Nat,, pp. 95-7. ‘The Mexican tongue abounded in expressions of rev-
erence and courtesy. The style and appellations used in the intercourse
between equals, would have been so unbecoming in the mouth of one in a
lower sphere, when he accosted a person in higher rank, as to be deemed an
insult.’ Robertson's Hist, Amer., vol. ii., we: 278-9, ‘The low guttural
pronunciation of the Mexican, or Aztec.’ Ward's Mex., vol. i., p. 31; Galicia
Chimalpopocatl, Dissertacion, in Museo Mez., tom. iv., p. 517, et seq.; Heller,
Reisen, p. 877. ‘Des hauteurs les plus sublimes, de la métaphysique, elle
descend aux choses les plus vulgaires; avec une sonorité et une richesse

zomahi
father
ple of
Teopia
There |
called
Cases ;
itta, co
anger,

By
of aw

d'expressi
Natecio.
‘The lan
treme,’ /f

AGGLUTINATION IN THE AZTEC LANGUAGE. 781

The Mexican language employs the following letters: a,
g, ch, e, h, 1, k, 1, m,n, 0, p,q, t, U, tz, u,v, 2, y, 2. The pro-
nunciation is soft and musical, and free from nasal
sound. The a is clear; ch before a vowel is pro-
nounced as in Spanish; but before a consonant, or when
a terminal, it differs somewhat; ¢ is clear; / isan aspir-
ate, in general soft, being strong only when it precedes
u. No word commences with the letter /; UZ is pro-
nounced as in English. The ¢ is sometimes silent, but
not when it comes between two /’s; ¢/ in the middle of
a word is soft, as in Spanish, but as a terminal it is
pronounced ¢le, the e half mute; ¢z is similar to the
Spanish s, but a little stronger; the » is by the women
pronounced as in Spanish, but men give it a sound
very similar to Au in Spanish; @ is soft, like sk in
English; z is like s in Spanish, but less hissing.

By compounding, the Mexicans make many long
words, some even of sixteen syllables; but there are also
some non-compounded words that are very long. Words
are compounded by uniting a number of whole words,
and not alone by simple juxtaposition, since, with much
attention to brevity and euphony, letters and sylla-
bles are frequently omitted. For instance ;—tlazolli,
loved; mahwetik, honorable, or reverend; teopiagui,
priest; tadli, father; no, mine; of which is composed notla-
zomahuizteopiacatzin, that is to say, my very esteemed
father and reverend priest. This also presents an exain-
ple of the ending ¢zin, which simply signifies respect.
Zeopiaqui is composed of teot/, God, and pia, to guard.
There are two particles which may be appropriately
called ligatures, as they serve to unite words in certain
cases; they are caand ti. Kualani, to irritate, to anger;
itta, consider, reflect; nidualanicaitta, to observe with
anger, angrily.

By reason of these compounded words, the meaning
of a whole sentence is often contained in a single word,

d'expression qui n'appartiennent qu’'a elle.’ Brasseur de Bourboury, Hist.
Nat, Civ., tom, i, p. 103; Prescott's Moew., vol. i., p. 108, vol. iii., p. 89>.
‘The language of the M-xicans is to our apprehension harsh in the ex-
treme,’ Helps’ Spun, Cong,, vol. i., p. 288,

782 THE AZTEC AND OTOMI LANGUAGES.

as ;—dlalnepanitla, in the middle of the earth, or, situated
in the middle; , Smoking mountain; atzcaput-
zal, ant-hill, or, place where there are many people
moving-—alluding to a dense population; cuauhnahuac,
(Cuernavaca) near to the trees; atlaco, above the water;
tepetitlan, above the mountain, etc.

There are several ways of expressing the plural.
As a rule, plurals are applied only to animate ob-
jects. Inanimate objects seldom change in the >'~al,
as;—ce tefl, one stone; yet tefl, three stones; miec tedl,
many stones. In exceptional cases the plural of in-
animate objects is expressed by terminals. One of

these exceptions is when the object is connected with .

persons, ag;—zoguitl, mud; tizoquime, we are earth; but
there are again exceptions to this rule, as for instance ;—
uhuicame, the heavens; tepeme, mountains; zitlaltin, stars.
Sometimes inanimate things also form the plural by
doubling the first syllable ;—etla, place full of stones;
tetetla, places full of stones; calli, house; cacalli, houses.
These various terminations may be reduced to the fol-
lowing rules. Primitive words have the plural in’ me,
tin, or que, as;—ichcatl, a sheep; ichcame, sheep; zolin, a
quail, zoltin, quail; cocoxgui, sick; cocoxque, sick (plural) ;
topile, constable; topileque, constables. Derivatives form
the plural as follows: those called reverentials, ending
with ¢zintli, have in the plural ¢zitzintin. Diminuitives,
ending in ¢onétl, have in the plural tofontin, and dimin-
utives ending in ¢on and pil, augmentatives in pol, and
reverentials in ¢zin, double the terminal, as ;—#¢lacatzinili,
person; ¢lacatzitzintin, persons; ichcatontli, a lamb; ich-
catotontin, lambs; icheapil, lamb; ichcapipil, lambs; chi-
chiton, a little dog; chichitoton, little dogs; Auehuetzin,
old man; Auehuetzitzin, old men.

Words into whose composition the possessive pronoun
enters, whether primitive or derivative, have for the
plural van or huan;—-noichcahuan, my sheep; noichcato-
tonhuan, my little sheep. The words ¢lacatl, man, ciuatl,
woman, and those which imply an official or profes-
sional position, form the plural simply by leaving off

noun o1
tenahua
The dai
accusati
verb, or
bread ;
indicate
utives a
chichi, ¢
small he
termina
xochitla,
as ;— que
va (hua
Uhuicaha
parative:
tions, bu
ocachi, e
Juan, oc
verb is ¢
active, n
having

AZTEC GRAMMAR. 733

the last letters, as;—mezicail, plural, mexicd; in which
case, however, the ultimate syllable is accented. Some
words, to form the plural, double the first syllable, and
also use terminals, as;—+teotl, God; teteo, gods; zolin,
quail; zozoltin, quails; zitli, hare; ziziltin, heures. el-
pochth and ichpochtli, double the syllable po.

Some adjectives have several plurals, as;—~miec,
much; plural, miectin, miecintin, or miecin. Gender is
expressed by adding the words oquichtli or ciuatl, male
and female, except in such words as in themselves in-
dicate the gender. <A father speaking of his son says,
nopiltzin, and a mother of her daughter, noconeuh.

There are no regular declensions; in the vocative
case, an e is added to the nominative, or words ending
in di or li, change the 7 into e. Those ending in #in may
change to ¢ze or add an e, but the latter is only used by
males. ‘The genitive is denoted by the possessive pro-
noun or by the juxtaposition of the words, as;—eotl, God ;
tenahuatilli, emanating; teotenahuatilli, precept of God.
The dative is indicated by verbs called appiicatives; the
accusative, by certain particles which accompany the
verb, or by juxtaposition; as;—chihua, to have; daxcalli,
bread ; nitlaxcalchihua, I have bread. The ablative is
indicated by certain particles and prepositions. Dimin-
utives are formed by the terminals ¢onth and ton, as;—
chichi, dog; chichiton, small dog; calli, house; caconthi,
small house. Augmentatives take the syllable pol. The
terminals ¢/a, and /a, serve as collectives ;—zochitl, flower ;
xochitla, flower-bed. Words ending with of/ are abstracts,
as;—qualli, good; qualotl, goodness. Those ending with
va (hua) and e indicate possession ;—ilhuicatl, heaven,
Whuicuhua, master of heaven, (applied to God). Com-
paratives and superlatives have no particular termina-
tions, but their place is supplied by adverbs, as ;—achi,
ocachi, etc., which mean ‘more.’ Pedro is better than
Juan, ocachiqualli in Pedro ihuan amo Juan; here the ad-
verb is connected with guallo, good. Words derived from
active, neuter, passive, reflective and impersonal verbs,
having various significations, terminate in ni, ont, ya,

apie otis Seen ——S 5

me eae

734 THE AZTEC AND OTOML LANGUAGES.

ta, yan, can, yau, tan, tli, li, heli, oca, ca, 0, tl; as;—
cochini, he who sleeps; daxcalchihuani, he who has
bread; motlaloani, he who runs; chihualoni, practicable;
neitoniloni, something producing perspiration; notlachi-
uaya, my instrument; amotlanequia, our will; tlacualoyan,
eater; micoayan, place to sleep; «epatiayan, hospital;
tlachthualli, created, produced ; teélazotlatizth, love; nachi-
hualoka, creation.

Personal pronouns are ;—nehuatl, nehua, ne, I; tehuail,
tehua, te, thou; yehuatl, yehua, ye, he or somebody; te-
huantin, tehua, we; amehuantin, amehuan, you; yehuan-
tin, yehuan, they. Possessives;—no, mine; mo, thine;
i, his; to, ours; amo, yours; in or im, theirs; ¢e, belong-
ing to others.

The above-mentioned possessives are used in com-
pounded words, and change the final syllable of the
word to which they are joined ;—teotl, God; notewh, my
God; Awehuetl, old man; amohuehuetcauh, our old man.

The verb has indicative, imperative, optative, and
subjunctive moods—present, imperfect, perfect, pluper-
fect, and future tenses.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TEMICTIA, TO KILL.
PBESENT INDICATIVE.

i kill, nitemictia We kill, titemictid
Thou killest, titemictia You kill, antemictia
He kills, temictia They kill, temicti&
IMPERFECT. U3RFECT.
I killed, nitemictiaya T have killed, onitemicti
2 We have killed, otitemictiqud
PLUPERFECT.
T had killed, onitemictica
FIRST FUTURE, SECOND FUTURE.
I shall kill, nitemictiz I shail have killed, _ yeonitemictli
We shall kill, titemictizqué
IMPERATIVE.
Kill thou, maxictemicti | Kill you, maxitemictican
OPTATIVE.

Would that I might kill, manitemictiani

PASSIVE FORMS.

T am killed nimictilo
1 was killed, onimictiloya

inmotoc
thy x
intlalti

earth abo

ilhuicac
heaven in,
xitechm

give

AZTEC IRREGULAR VERBS.

PASSIVE FORMS.

T have been killed, onimictiloc

I had been killed, onimitiloca

I shall be killed, nimictiloz

I shall have been killed, ye onimictiloc
O that I may be killed, manimictilo

O that I had been killed,

I ought to be killed, nimictilozquia
He who is killed, inmictilo

If I had killed, intlaonitertodent

If I had not killed, intlacamo onitemictiani
If I should kill, intlanitemictiz

He who kills, intemictia

I come to kill, onitemictico

I will come to kill, nitemictiquiuh

May I come to kill, manitemictiqui

I went to kill, onitemictito

I will go to kill, nitemictiuh

May I go to kill, manitemiciti

There are but few irregular verbs in the Aztec lan-
guage and the following are all that Pimentel could
find ;—ka and mani, to be; icac, to be on foot; onoc, to be
lying down; yauh, to go; huallauh and huitz, to come;
mazehualti, icnopilti, and whut, to obtain a benefit.

The following words are always used as affixes:
Behind oh gy Toward iis

cuitlapan Between tzalan
With huan, pa, copa,ca In the midst nepantla
Belonging to bg Together nahuac

Within co, c Above icpac
On the other side nalko, nal Before isto, vita ixtlan,

Upon, in time n
Underneath fan Inside itic, itec
Under tzintlan

THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Totatzine —_ynilhuicac timoyontioa, mayectenehualo
Our revered father who heaven in art, be praised

inmotocatzin, mahualauh inmotlatocayotzin machihualo
thy name, may come thy kingdom be done

intlaltic inmotl uilitzin, inyuhchichihualo in-
pie gh 2s is thy wil ‘ y as is done

ilhuicac, intotlaxcalmomoztlae totech monequi maaxcan
heaven in, our bread every day to us is necessary to-day

xitechmomaquili, maxitechmetlapopohuili intotlatlacol,

give us, forgive us our sins,

ee ee

ee

ee ee

738 THE AZTEC AND OTOMI LANGUAGES.

iniuh tiquintlapopolhuia intechtlatla calhuia, macamoxi-
we forgive those who us offend, thou not

joshieanenty a inicamo ipan tihnetabegue inteneyeye-

us lead that not = in we f in temp-
coltiliztli: canye xitechmomaquixtili ite inamo-
tation: but deliver us against from
qualli. | Maiuhmochihua.”
not good.

Many comparisons between the Aztec and the tongues
of Asia and Europe have been made, and relationship
claimed with almost every prominent language, but un-
der «alysis all these fancied affinities vanish. Simi-
larities in words, in common with all tongues, are found
between the Aztec and others, but at best they can be
called only accidental. Still, a few remarkable word-
analogies have been noticed, among the chief of which
are the foliowing. The Aztec like the Greek and Sans-
krit, uses the privative preposition a, which in the Celtic
has been changed to an, in Latin to in, or im, and in the
German to un;—Greek, athanatos; Aztec, amiquini, im-
mortal. Further, in the perfect tense, and sometimes in
the imperfect, o is used in the Aztec, like the Sanskrit a,
and the Greek e. But the most remarkable coincidence is
the word ¢eot/, which is as near as possible to the Greek
Théos. Kingsborough and Mrs Simon see in the Aztec
the language of the Jews; Jones that of the ancient
Tyrians; Lang, that of the Polynesians. Garcfa makes
comparisons with the Hebrew, Spanish, Phoenician,
Egyptian, Japanese, and German, and for a relationship
with these and many others he finds claimants. Until
further light is thrown upon American philology, the

10 Pedro de Arenas, Vocabulario Manual de las Castellana y Mewi-
cana. Mex., 1583. Manuel Perez, Arte del Idioma Mexicano. Mex” 1713.
Antonio Vasquez Gastelu, Arte de la Lengua Mexicana, Puebla, 1716, and 2d
edition, 1838. Francisco de Avila, Arte dela Lengua Mexicana, Mex., 1717.
Carlos de Tapia Zenteno, Arte Novissima de Samy Mexicana, Mex., 1758.
Horacio Carochi, Compendio del Arte de la Lengua Mexicana. Mex., 1759. Mo-
lina, Vocabulario. Mex., 1571. Rafael Sandoval, Arte de la Lengua Mexicana.
Mex., 1810. Pedro de ‘Arenas, Guide de la Conversation. Paris, 1862. Galla-
tin, in at Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., FP: 214-245; Pimentel, Cuadro,
vol. i., pp. 164-216; Vater Mithridates, vol. pt iii., pp. 85-106; Busch-
mann, men, pp. 20-

only dial
is the Ma
huacan.
Lord’s P:

The Of
the only
States, an
ship betw

This C
by Sejior
his peculi:
an append
between t

‘Ks ist
Sprache ing
men, P. 20;
Jones’ Hist, 2
Nat., pp. 96-£
ii., pe 229, et |

Orozco
p. 282; Pimen
p. 113,

33 * Concdr
808 Pueblos, :
Puebla, con ‘!
Otom) los que
explicaciones ¢
iv., 1771, Julic

Von.

HYPOTHETICAL OTOMI AND CHINESE RELATIONSHIP, 1737

Aztec must stand alone, as cine of the independent lan-
guages of the world.”

The Otom{, held to be next to the Aztec the most
widely extended language in Mexico, was spoken by a
rough and barbarous people who inhabit the mountains
encircling the valley of Andhuac, but more particularly
those towards the north-west. Thence it extended into
the present state of San Luis Potosf, was spoken
throughout Queretaro and the larger part of Guanajuato,
and in places in Michoacan, Vera Cruz, and Puebla.”
From the Journal and Proceedings of the fourth Provin-:
cial Council, held in Mexico in the year 1771, it appears
that the language was spoken in four dialects, varying
so much that it was only with the greatest difficulty
that the several tribes could hold intercourse.” The
only dialect of which particular notice has been taken
is the Mazahua, spoken in the ancient province of Maza-
huacan. Of the others the only specimens are a few
Lord’s Prayers.

The Otomi claims attention in one particular; it is
the only true monosyllabic language found in the Pacific
States, and this alone has led many to claim relation-
ship between it and the Chinese.

This Chinese relationship has been mainly advocated
by Sefior Najera, a native Otomi, who in furtherance of
his peculiar views wrote an excellent Otomi grammar, in
an appendix to which he gives an extensive comparison
between the two idioms. But, taking up the words which

‘Es ist nicht mdglich von einer Verwandtschaft der mexicanischen
Sprache mit den Sprachen anderer Erdtheile zu reden.’ Buschmann, Ortsna-
men, p. 20; Garcia, Origen de los Ind., pp. 118-21, 187, 232-5, 241, 269;
Jones’ Hist, Ane, Amer.; Simon's Ten Tribes, pp. 163, 173; Lang’s Polynesian
Nat., LA 96-8, et seq; Quarterly Review, 1816, p. 415; Humboldt, Vues, tom.
ii, p. 229, et seq.

é Orozco y Barra Geografia, p. 17; Aleare, Hist. Comp. de Jesus, tom. i.,

p. 282; Pimentel, Cuadro, tom.i., p. 118; Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., ptiii.,
113

13 * Concdrdandose en que no se entienden los mismos Otomites de diver-
sos Pueblos, aun Vecinos, de que did una prueba concluyente el Obispo de
Puebla, con el hecho de haver ane quutro Curas estindantes de su sierra
Otom) los que mutuamente se improbaban por hereticas, disparatadds sus
explicaciones de los Mysterios de nr& Religion.’ Concilio Provincial Mexicano,
iv., 1771, Gullo Bi, xe.

on, III,

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

il O ‘las Was

cM aaa |
l= Mia
i” |
Wee Wa, Wes |
x Oo |
“q ye
ty” y ~ ~ S a
“y a»? 4 “a oom be wN
pe WY ® 4 &®
s WN Y a “O%

on Pho Hic a &
7 mos wa |e
Corporation

738 THE AZTEC AND OTOMI LANGUAGES.

he declares to be similar, we are at once struck with im-
portant omissions on his part. The first is that he has
not at all taken into consideration the difficulty of com-
paring monosyllabic languages, in which a word fre-
quently has ten or more significations, distinguishable
only by pronunciation and accentuation, and at times
having scarcely these distinguishing features. Secondly,
the words which he adduces to be similar, are wanting
in the very essentials that constitute a relationship, for
in most instances they are not even similar in sound,
a requisite to which more attention ought to be paid in
monosyllabic languages than in those which are poly-
syllabic. The few words that in reality are similar are
probably only accidental resemblances, and the question
of relationship between the Otomi and Chinese cannot
be said to have been established as yet."

Mr Bringier branches out in another direction in
search of a relationship, and fancies he finds it in the
Cherokee, basing his whole argument on e hypothetical
resemblance of perhaps half a dozen words, which in
fact do not resemble each other at all.™®

Like other monosyllabic tongues the Otom{ is rather
difficult to acquire, its pronounciation being rough, gut-
tural, with frequently occurring nasals and aspirates.”

* nee Dis. sobre la lengua Othomt; Warden, Recherches, in Antig, Mea.,
° —9,
15 Bringier, Lettre, in Silliman's Jour., vol. iii., pp. 35-6.

16 ‘La Otomi, songs barbara cuasi enteraments gutural, y que 4 pénas
cede al estudio PY 4&la mas séria aplicacion.’ Alegre, Hist. Comp. de Jesus,
tom. i., p. 90. ‘La Otomi, que se dilata casi tanto como lv Mexicana, y en
ln difficultad, y obscuridad le haze grandes ventajas.’ Grijalua, Crén, Au-
qustin, fol. 74. ‘Loro linguaggio @ assai difficile, e pieno d'aspirazioni,
che fanno parte nella gola, e parte nel naso ma peraltro é abbastanza
copioso ed espressivo.’ Clavigero, Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. i., p. 148.
‘Une langue pleine d’aspirations nasales et gutturales.’ Humboldt, Essai
Pol., tom. i., p, 255. ‘ Die Sprache der Othomi zeichnet sich durch die Ein-
sylbigkeit oder wenigstens Kirze ihrer meisten Wérter, durch Hiirte und As-
piration aus.’ Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., p. 114. ‘Leur langue, rude
comme eux, est monosyllabique: embrassant A In fois tous les sons, mais dé-
nude d’ornements, elle montre, néanmoins, dans sa simplicité quelque chose
de majestueux qui rappelle les temps antiques.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist.
Nat, Civ., hein p. 167. ‘Es dura, seca, inyrata A la lengua y mal al oido:
todo lo de ella es riistico, vasto, sin pulidez.’ Nazera, Dis, sobre la lengua
Othomt, p. 23. ‘Su lenguage es muy duro y corte.’ Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec.
iii., lib, v., cap, xix; Duponceau, Mémoire, py. 68-71; Torquemada, Mo-
narg. Ind., tom, i., p. 33, tom. ii, p. 82; Miller, Reisen, tum. iii., p. 45;

parative
chu, les:
in like |
meanin;
best; tze
alzu, pr
paper.
changed
which is
nugui, I
thee, for
nugahé, :
niygut, 9
thine; n
Verbs
which d
three per

Hassel, Mex,
der's Mex, G

OTOM! GRAMMAR. 789

As before stated, many words having distinct mean-
ings, are distinguished only by various sounds, or in-
tonations of the same vowel; many words even having
the same sound and intonations have different meanings.
The words of this language are of one or two syllables;
a few of them have three. In words compounded of
more than one syllable, each syllable preserves its origi-
nal meaning. The words whether noun or verb, are in-
flexible. Neither substantive nor adjective nouns have
any gender. The same word may be a substantive,
adjective, verb, and adverb, as in the following sentence;
—na nho nho ye na nho he nho, which means, the good-
ness of man is good and becomes him well. Nouns have
neither declension nor gender, which are expressed either
by distinct words, or by ta or ta, male, and nsw or,
nau, female;—tayo, the dog; nxuyo, slut. The particle
na has the property of the article and, prefixed to the
noun, distinguishes the singular. In the plural, ya af-
fixed, or e prefixed, is substituted. Adjectives are always
placed before substantives;—ka ye, holy man. Com-
paratives are expressed by the words mra, more, and
chu, less;—nho, good; nra nho, better. Superlatives are
in like manner shown by the word za, or tze, prefixed,
meaning very much, excessively, exceedingly ;—tza nho,
best; tze ntzo, worst, or very bad. The particle zi, or
atzu, prefixed, marks a diminutive ;—2zi hensi, a small
paper. In abstract nouns of quality the prefix na is
changed into sa;—na nho yeh, a good man; sa nho, that
which is good. Personal pronouns are ;—nuga, nugaga,
nugui, I; gut, ki, me, for me; nugué nfy, thou; y, hi, to
thee, for thee; nunu, he; bi, ba, ki, him, for him, to him;
nugahé, nugagahé, nuguihé, we, or us; nuguégii, nuguehu,
niygui, ndyhu, you, to you; nuyu, they; ma, mine; ni,
thine; na, his.

Verbs are conjugated with the assistance of particles,
which designate tense and person. Every tense has
three persons, also a singular, anda plural. The plural is

Hassel, Mea. i p 152; Mihlenpfordt, Mejico, tom. ii., pt ii, p. 364; Con-
der's Mex, Guat., vol. ii., p. 119,

740 THE AZTEO AND OTOM[ LANGUAGES.

always designated by the syllable hé, we; wi, gi, or hu,
you; yu, they. All nouns may also be verbs, for the
Otomis, unable to segregate the abstract idea of existence
from the thing existing, confound both and have no
substantive verb;—nho, good; di nho, I good, or I am

good

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB NEE, I WILL.
PRESENT INDIOATIVE.

I will, di nee We will, di nee hé
Thou willest, gui nee You will, gui nee gai
He wills, y nee They will, y nee yu
IMPERFECT. PERFECT.
I willed, di nee hma | Ihave willed, xta nee, or da neo
PLUPEEFECT.
T had willed, xta nee hma
FIRST FUTUBE. SECOND FUTURE.
I shall will, ga nee | Ishall have willed, gua xta nee
IMPERATIVE.
Will thou, "nee | Will you, nee gui nee hu!”

LORD'S PRAYER.

Ma td he ni buy mahetsi da ne ansu ni huhu
My father we thou house heaven call holy thy name name

da ehe gahe ni biy da kha ni hnee ngt
thy will come towards us thy house thy will do thy will as

gua na hay te ngu mahétsi ma hme he ta ni pa
here the eart as also heaven the bread us every day

ry he nar apa ya ha puni he ma dupate he
give us one day new and forgive us our debts
tengu di puni he u mandupaté he ha yo gui he he
as we forgive now debtors ours and avoid the permit us

ga he kha na tzd cadi ma na pehe he hin nhod.
Ce]

us in bad action but save us no good.

Do kha.
Thy will do.

1T Yoaquin Lopez Yepes, Catecismo pcroornaey de la Doctrina Cristiana, en
lengua Otomt. Francisco Perez, Catecismo de la Doctrina Cristiana, en lengua

Otomt. Nawera, Disertacion sobre la lengua Othomi, Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno.
Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 286-98; Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii., pp.
115-24; Pimentel, Cuadro, vol. i., pp. 120-60; Antonio Guadalupe Ramirez,
Breve Compendio.... uesto en lengua Othomt. See also Lond. Geog. Soc.,
Jour., vol. iii, p. 355; Luis de Neve y Molina, Grammatica Della Lingua Oto-
mt,

anzi ocl
also is dc

ti chotk
forgive
me macl
those
hemeyo
in

tenxi his
evil

18 Piment

OTOM{ AND MAZAHUA LORD'S PRAYER'S. 741

The same in another dialect.| Still another version of the
Go ma ta he same.

To gui buy Ma ta ki he

Hé tsi Gue gui buy

Da ma ka ni hu Kha hetsi

Na di ni hne Kha ni hu

Hiy he heisi Da di hnec

Ma hme he ta pa Bi kho na hay

Sa da ke ni Ba fia kha mahetsi
Ha pu ni ma thay he Da da sé he

Ngt y puma thay it} he | Ma hme he

Ha yo he Yo ga zo he gee tzd di.
He ga za tzd di

The grammar of the Mazahua dialect is very nearly
the same as that of the Otom{, and I therefore insert
the Lord’s Prayer only to illustrate the connection be-
tween the two languages.

Mi yho me ki obuihui ahezi tanereho ni chuu ta ehe

Our father is heaven sanctified thy name come
ni nahmuu ta cha axofiihomue cho ni nane makhe
thou kingdom do earth ? thy will as
anzi ocha ahezi. Ti yak me mi bech me choyazmue,
also is done heaven. Give us our bread every day,
ti chotkhe me mo huezok me merkhe anzi tigattotpue
forgive us our faults as also we forgive

me mache i zokhegue me pestheuno gueguetme La sal

those who offend us must

hemeyo huezok hi tipe yeziz one ‘macho y yotlene maono
in sins deliver us

tenxi higaho.”
evil,

18 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom, ii., pp. 194-201.

CHAPTER X.

LANGUAGES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MEXICO.

Tas Pame anv rms Dratects—Txe Meco or GuANAaJUATO AND THE SYEBRA
Gorpa—Tae Tanasco or Micnoacan AND ITs GRAMMAR—THE Mar.Lat-
TZINCA AND ITS GRAMMAR—THE OccinTEC—THE MrzrEc anv 17s DIALECTS
—Muzrec GramMan—Tue Amusco, Coocuo, Mazateo, CurcaTEc, CHATINO,
TLAPANEC, CHINANTEC, AND Popotuca—THE ZaPorec AND 1Ts GRAMMAR—
Tue Miszs—Mise GramMasB AND Lonp’s Prayen—Tue HUvAvVE oF THE
Istuuus or TEHUANTEPEC—HUAVE NUMERALS,

North-eastward of the Otomf, is a language called the
Pame, spoken in three distinct dialects; the first in San
Luis de la Paz, in the Sierra Gorda; the second, near
the city of Maiz, in San Luis Potosi; and the third in
Purfsima Concepcion de Arnedo, and also in the Sierra
Gorda. I have at hand only the Lord’s Prayer in
three dialects; nor can I find mention of any vocabu-
lary or grammar. It is described as difficult to acquire,
principally on account of the many dialectic variations.’

FIRST DIALECT.

Tata m{cagon indis bonigemajd: indis unajé grotzta-
cuz: Quii unibé: Nage eu nitazd, unibé ubonigi: Ur-
roze paricagon uvingui ambogén bucon gatigi bajir
gomdr, como icagon gumorbon quipicgo hicnang6: nena-

' «Es mucha la dificultad del idioma, porque en treinta vecinos suelo
haber cuatro y cinco lenguas distintas, y tanto, que aun despues de mucho
trato no se entienden sino las cosas muy ordinarias.’ Alegre, Hist. Comp. de
Jesus, 1 p. 282,

nguf r
Jesus.

Car
scalijo
quima
caucar
humur
munts.
ening,

Ttat
missch
hibh u
gghihgl
commo
qquihh
giithuhh
uhhohd
ihec 4h
haihh.
Ahnihs
ihhehgg

It wi
& most s
absurdit
it, nor d
this hud
osity thé
any ben

In the
guage is
which ni

Matai: q
jQ da ne
moccanzt

2 Piment
minical, pp,

PAME AND MECO LORD'S PRAYER'S. 743

ngu{ nandazé pacunimd: imorgo cabonja pajanor. Amen
Jesus,
SECOND DIALECT.

Caucan xugiienan, que humiju cantau impains, ach-
scalijon gee nigiu yucant gee cumpd. Chaucat gee
quimang, ac-gi cumpéd acgi cantau impain. Senté
caucan senda gundé yucant chiné iguadcatan caucan
humunts, ac-gipain caucan hujundptan & caucan hu-
munts, Y tni negenk do guaik guning cacaa yeket vali
ening, ac-ge-bo.

THIRD DIALECT.

Ttattahghuhggg ighegh ddih uhvoh hinh gghih qquihh-
missches: ughgnjuhgh ttahghgihh innddisseh Qquihi-
hihh uhggiho uhghg githihh rrehhino, Ih qquih tigh-
gghihghh wohlluhn ttéh ighschchahh, Assi uhggiighh
commo ub véhnnihghh. Uhnghehddi uhvrdé hhvihn
qquihhphpohggiihuhh, yhchihb uh vehvéhh ihghgiihoh-
giihuhh ih qqgih ih chi wehveh ihhumhurhggiihuhh
uhhohddi nuch héhdhudg. Assi commo ahpe hpchhddi
ihec fhggiihuhh kuhmhihrahhg uhonnddi ahphpiggii-
hihh. Ih qquihngnahghnhthrrggiihuhh phpahagh,
Ahnihssuhqquih huhnhéhh. Mahhsséhh Uihbbrihrhr
ihhehggiihuhh. Ihghgdhttuhhehr¢éh Ggéhssihs.

It will be observed that the third dialect displays a
a most singular combination of letters. It is a manifest
absurdity. Pimentel does not mention where he obtained
it, nor does he intimate what sounds are produced from
this huddling of consonants. I give it more as a curi-
osity than with the idea that philologists will ever derive
any benefit from it.’

In the Sierra Gorda and in Guanajuato, another lan-
guage is mentioned, called the Meco, or Serrano, of
which no specimen but a Lord’s Prayer exists:

Mataige gui bu majetzi, qui sundat too, da gué rit td
jQ da ne pa quecque ni moc candni, ne si dac-kad na
moccanzi; tanto na sinfai, tengd, majetzi. Mat tumeje

2 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii., p. 267; Col. Polidiémica, Mex., Oracion Do-
minical, pp. 31-8,

744 LANGUAGES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MEXICO.

td, dt mapa, rac-je pilla, ne si gi pungagé, mat-oigajé,
tengi si didi pumjéé, too dit-tuc-je, nello gijega je
gatac-je ratentacion; man-aa judgaje, gat-tit-jov lla-
izoonfenni.°

Still less is said concerning the languages spoken in
the state of Tamaulipas; of them nothing is known but
the names, and it cannot be ascertained whether they
are correctly classified or not, as no specimens exist.
The languages which I find spoken of are the Yué, Yemé,
Olive, Janambre, Pisone, and a general one named Tama-

ulipeco.‘

The Tarasco, the principal language of Michoacan, can
be placed almost upon an equality with the Aztec, as
being copious and well finished. It is particularly
sweet-sounding, and on this account has been likened
to the Italian; possessing all the letters of the alphabet.

Each syllable usually contains one consonant and one
vowel; the letter r is frequent.° From the different
grammars I compile the following:

3 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii., p. 267.

4 Berlandier, Diario, p. 144; Orozco y Berra, Geografia, p. 296.

5 Mendieta, Hist. Eeles., p. 552. ‘Tarascum, quod hujus gentis proprium
erat et vulgare, concisum atque elegans.’ Laet, Novus Orbis, p. 267. ‘La
Tarasca, que corre generalmente en las Prouincias de Mechoacan, esta es muy
facil por tener la mesma pronunciacion que la naestra: yassi se escriue con el
mesmo abecedario. Es muy copiosa, y elegante.’ Grijalua, Crén. Augustin,
fol. 75; Herrera, Hist, Gen., dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. ix; Alegre, Hist. Comp. de
Jesus, tom. i., Pp. 90-1; Acosta, Hist. Nat. Ind., p. 506. ‘La loro lingua é
abbondante, dolce, e sonora. Adoperano spesso la R soave: le loro sillabe
constano Re lo pi d’una sola consonante e d’una vocale.’ Clavigero, Storia
Ant. del Messico, tom. i., p. 149. ‘Les Tarasques....célébres....par l’har-
monie de leur langue riche en voyelles.’ Humboldt, Essai Pol., tom. 1., p. 255;
Beaumont, Crén. de Mechoacan, p. 43; Miihlenpfordt, Mejico, tom. ii., pt ii., p.
364; Romero, Noticias Michoacan, p. 5; Heredia y Sarmiento, Sermon, p. 83;
Anales del Ministerio de Fomento, 1854, Pp 185, et seq.; Wappdus, Geog, u.
Stat., p. 35; Hassel, Mex. Guat., p. 152. ‘Die Sprache in dieser Provinz
wirk fiir die reineste und zierlichste von ganz Neu-Spanien gehalten.’ Dela-
porte, Reisen, pp. 313-4; Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., ptiii., p. 125. ‘ Tarasca
een nette en korte spraek, die ongenite alhier te huis hoort.’ Montanus,
Nieuwe Weereld, P 66. Ward, speaking of the Tarasco, has made the
serious mistake of confounding it with the Otom{, and seems to think that
they are both one and the same. Two languages could hardly be farther
apart than these two. Mewico, vol. ii., p. 681. Raffinesque, tho indefatigable
searcher for foreign relationships with Mexican languages, claims to have
discovered an ay between the Tarasco, Italian, Atlantic, Coptic, Pelas-
gic, Greek, and Latin languages. He writes that he was ‘struck with its
evident analogy’ with the above and with the ‘languages of Africa and
Europe both in words and structure, in " of o separation of some thou-
sand years.’ In Priest's Amer, Antig., p. 314. E

I touch,
Thou touck
He touches
We touch,
You touch,
They touch

TARASCO GRAMMAR. 745

In the alphabet there is neither f, v, nor 7; no words
begin with the letters b, d, g, and r; k, has a sound
distinct from that of c, being pronounced stronger. The
letter s is often intercalated for euphony; it must be
inserted between h and i, when a word ends with h,
and the next begins with 7. At the end of a word it
signifies same, or self; Ai, I; his, I myself. When a
a word ends in s and the next begins with h, the letter
x is substituted for both. The letter « at the end of a
word indicates the plural. PA is never pronounced
like f; the h after p only indicates an aspiration of the
vowel which follows:—p-hica. Hati, third person sin-
gular of the pronoun used in conjugations, may be
converted into ndi. The p immediately following m is
converted into b. The r and ¢ next following n are
converted into d; and e and qg next following n are con-
verted into g. There are three kinds of nouns—ra-
tional, irrational, and inanimate. The last two are
indeclinable in the singular. The plural of irrational
animals is formed simply by the addition of the particle
echa. ‘Two other particles are used to express the plural
of inanimate things;—wan, and harandeti, many, much.
Five words of this species use, however, the particle
echa in the plural; wata, mountain; ambocuta, street;
ahchiuri, night; tzipaé, morning; hosqua, star.

DECLENSION OF THE WORD FATHER.

SINGULAR. PLURAL.
tata tata echa
tataeueri, or hihchiuiremba ; tata echa eueri
tata ni Dat. tata echa ni
tata ni i tata echa ni
tata e . tata eche e
tata ni himbo . tata echa ni himbo

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB POMI, TO TOUCH.

PRESENT INDIOATIVE,
ACTIVE. PASSIVE.

I touch, pohaca I am touched, pogahaca

Thou touchest, pohacare Thou art touched, pogahacare

He touches, pohati He is touched, pogahati

We touch, pohacachuchi We are touched, pogahacachuchi
You touch, pohacarechuchi You are touched, pogahacachuchi
They touch, potix They are touched, pogatix

746 LANGUAGES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MEXICO.

IMPERFECT.

I touched, pohambihca | I was touched, pogahambihca
PERFECT.
I have touched, poca | I was touched, pogaca
PLUPERFECT.
I had touched, pophihca | Ihad been touched, pogaphica
FIRsT FUTURE.
I shall touch, pouaca | Ishall be touched, pagauaca
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have touched, thuvin pouaca
I shall have been touched, thuvin pogauaca
IMPERATIVE,
Let me touch, popa ’ Let us touch, popacuche
Touch thou, po Touch you, paue
Let him touch, poue Let them touch, pauez
I might touch, popiringa | Imight be touched, pogapiringa 6

LORD'S PRAYER.

Tata huchaeueri thukirehaca audndaro santo arikeue
Father our thou who art heavenin holy be said

thucheueti hacangurikua uuehtsini andarenoni thucheue-
thy name make us arrive thy

ti irechekua ukeue thucheueti uekua iskire audndaro
kingdom _— be done thy will as in heaven in

umengahaca istu umengaue ixu echerendo. Huchaeueri
it is made as it be made as earth in. Our

curinda anganaripakua instcuhtsini iya canhtsini uepou-
bread daily give us to-day and to us

achetsnsta huchaeueri hatzingakuareta iski hucha ueh-
forgive our fault asalso we

pouacuhuantstahaca huchaeueri hatsingakuaecheni ca
forgive our debtors and

hastsini teruhtatzemani terungutahperakua himbo. Eu-
not us lead us temptation but
ahpentstatsini caru casingurita himbo.’
deliver us also evil of.

West of the valley of Andhuac, in the ancient king-

6 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., pp. 275-309; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno., Soc.,
Transact., tom. i., pp. 245-52; Mowo, Cartas Mejicanas, p. 68; Vater, Mithri-
dates, tom. iii., pt ili., p. 126; Manuel de San Juan Crisostomo Ndjera, Gram.

Tarasca, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, 2da época, tom iv., pp. 664-684.

7 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., p. 804; Vuter, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii.,
pp. 126-7; Araujo, Manval de los Santos Sacramentos en el Idioma de Michua-
can,

dutzitzi
huinike
pressed
singula
by the }
men.
nema, tl
tives wi
The
kuebi, ka
thou; &
inthehuel
niteych, 1

8 ‘Estos
mexicana, sit
carece de la |

Crén. Augusti

MATLALTZINCA GRAMMAR. 747

dom of Michoacan, and in the district which is now
called Toluca, was an independent nation, the Matlalt-
zincas, whose language, of which there are several dia-
lects, notwithstanding the assertion of some writers that
it was connected with or related to the Tarasco, must still
stand as an individual and distinct tongue. Com-
parisons may develop a few phonetic similarities, but
otherwise the two do not approach one another in the
least.°

There are twenty-one letters used ii the Matlaltzinca
language :—a, b, ch, d, ¢, g, h, 1, k, m, n, 0, p, q, 7, t, t,
th, u, x, y, 2 Compounded words are frequently used
and are considered very elegant ;—Aimituhoritakimin-
dutzitzi, to look for something to eat; kituteginchimutho-
huinikuhumbi, I give a good example. Gender is ex-
pressed and there is also a declension. There is a
singular, a dual, and a plural; the dual is designated
by the preposition the;—/Auema, the man; thema, the two
men. ‘The plural is designated by the preposition ne;—
nema, the men; but there are some inanimate substan-

tives with which this latter preposition is not used.

The personal pronouns are:—kaki, 1; kakuehui, ka-
kuebi, kakuehebi, we two; kakohuiti, kakehebi, we; kahachi,
thou; kachehui, you two; kachohui, you; inthehui, he;
inthehuehui, they two; inthehue, they. Possessives ;—
niteyeh, mine; kaaniyeh, thine; niyeh inthehui, his.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO LOVE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
SINGULAR.
T love, kitututochi

Thou lovest, kitutochi, or kikitutochi
He loves, kitutochi

DUAL.
We two love, kikuentutochi
You two love, kichentutochi
They two love, kikuentutochi

8 ‘Estos tolucas, y por otro nombre Matlatzincas, no hablaban la lengua
mexicana, sino otra diferente y obscura....y su lengua propia de ellos, no
carece do la letra R.’ Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., lib. x., p. 129; Grijalua,
Crén, Augustin, fol. 75; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Esquisses, p. 33.

748 LANGUAGES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MEXICO,

PLURAL.
We love, kikuchentutochi
You love, kichehentutochi
They love, kircntutochi
IMPERFECT. PERFECT.
T loved, kimitututochi | I have loved, kitabutochi
FUTURE.
T shall love, kirutochi, or takimitututochi
IMPERATIVE.
Let me lova, kutochi
PASSIVE.
T am loved, kitochikikaki We are loved, kitochikakehebi
We two are loved, kitochihuehuikakuebi
REFLEXIVE.
I love myself, kitutecochi
He who loves, inmututochi | He who will love, inkakatutochi

LORD'S PRAYER.
Kabotuntanki kizhechori ypiytiy tharehetemeyuhbu-

Father our thou art above in heaven sanctified be

tohui inituyuh tapue nitubeye tharetehehui inunihami
thy name come thy kingdom do above the earth

inkituhenahui ipuzka hetehehui ypiytiy. Achii ripah-

thy will as itisdone inheaven. To-day
kehbi inbotumehui indahmutze dihemindikebi inbo-
give us our bread every day forgive us

tubuchochi pukuehentukahmindi indorihuebikeh nuxi-
our fault as we forgive our debtors

menkarihechi kehbi muhe dishedanita kehbi pinita

let us not fall us and deliver us from
inbuti.’
evil,

A language spoken in Toluca, the Ocuiltec, is men-
tioned by Sa’ .gun and Grijalua, about which, except-
ing the name only, no information can be obtained.”

Principally in the state of Oajaca, but also in parts

9 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., pp. 499-539; Guevara, Arte Doctrinal, in Soc.
ride Pal Boletin, tom. ix., pp. 197-260; Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt iii.,
12

10 ‘ Ocuiltecas, viven en ol distrito de Toluca, en tierras y terminos suyos,
son de la misma vida, y costumbre de los de la Toluca, aunque su lenguage
es diferente.’ Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., lib. x., p. 180. ‘ Ocuilteca, que
es lengua singular de ie pueblo, y de solo ocho visitas, que tenia sujetas

os que la sabemos.’ Grijalua, Cron. Augustin, fol, 75.

asi, y assi somos solos,

Autochth4
13 ¢ Misi
rizes, y tie
Padilla, H
ciacion, co
Burgoa, Px
de la malic
los Palacio:
con parabo
aqui lo ma;
aqueiia nac
bocablos, p
la nariz y
Lengua dif
Davila, Tea

DIALECTS OF THE MIZTEC LANGUAGE. 749

of the present states of Puebla and Guerrero, the Miz-
tec language is spoken even to this day. Of this lan-
guage there are many dialects, of which the following
are mentioned as chief;—the Tepuzculano, the Yan-
giiistlan, the Miztec bajo, the Miztec alto, the Cuix-
lahuac, the Tlaxiaco, the Cuilapa, the Mictlantongo,
the Tamazulapa, the Xaltepec, and the Nochiztlan. As
related to the Miztec, the Chocho, or Chuchon, also an
Oajaca idiom, is mentioned." As the Miztecs are gen-
erally classed aniong the autochthones of Mexico, their
language is considered as of great antiquity, being
spoken of in connection with that of the Ulmecs and
Xicalancas." Almost all of the oli missionaries com-
plained of the difficulty of acquiring this tongue and
its many dialects, which necessitated often a threefold
or fourfold study.”

The Miztec ‘may be written by means of the follow-
ing letters:—a, ch, d, e, h, 1, j, ky m, 1, %, 0, 8, t, u, v, w
or ks, gs, y, 2, dz, nd, tn, kh. The pronunciation is very
clear; the A is aspira*ed; v is as in English; kh, nd,
and tn, are nasal. Long words are of frequent occur-
rence. I give two of seventeen syllables each ;—yodoyo-
kavuandisasikandiyosanninahasahan, to walk stumbling;
and yokuvuihuatinindiyotuvuihuatusindisahata, to concili-

11 *Y aunque la lengua los haze generalmente & todos ynos en muchos
partes la han diferenciado en sylabas, Z modo de pronunciarlas, pero todos
se comunican, y entienden.’ Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. i., fol. 127, 130;
Grijalua, Crén, Augustin, p. 75; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Esquisses, pp. 34-6;
Laet, Novus Orbis, p. 260; Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iii., cap. xii-xiii.;
Orozco y Berra, tbo pp. 189-96; Villa-Sevior y Sanchez, Theatro, tom,
ii., P 137; Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, p. 712.

2 Torquemada, Monarg. Ind., tom. i., p. 32. ‘Ein Volk, das zu den
Autochthonen von Mexico gehért.’ Buschmann, Ortsnamen, p. 18.

13 ‘Mistica, cuya entera pronunciacion se vale algunas vezes de las na-
rizes, y tiene muchos equiuocos que la hazen de mayor dificultad.’ Ddvila
Padilla, Hist, Fund. Mez., p. 64. ‘La lengua dificultosissima en la pronun-
ciacion, con notable variedad de terminos y vozes en vnos y otros Pueblos.’
Burgoa, Palestra, Hist., pti., fol. 211. ‘Que como eran Demonios se valian
de la maliciosa astucia de varias la vozes y vocablos en esta lengua, asi para
los Palacios de los Caziques con terminos reuerenciales, como para los Idolos
con parabolos, y tropos, que solos los satrapas los aprendian, y como era
aqui lo mas corrupto.’ Id., Geog. Descrip., tom. i., fol. 156. ‘La lengua de
aquelia nacion, qne es dificultosa de saberse, por la gran equiuocacion de los
bocablos, para cuya distincion es necessario vsar de ordinario del sonido de
la nariz y fe abt del aliento.’ Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, p. 321. ‘Ser la

Lengua dificultosa de aprender, por las muchas equiuocaciones que tiene.’
Davila, Teatro Eeles., tom. i., p. 156.

750 LANGUAGES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MEXICO,

ate the good gracesof a person. Words are compounded
or agglutinated in five different ways;—First, without
changing either of the component words, as;—yutndl,
tree; and kuihi, fruit; yutnukuihi, fruit-tree. Second,
one of the component words changes, as;—hucha, good,
and fiaha, no; nahuaha, bad. Third, words which are
first divided and cut up, are afterward, so to say,
patched together again. Fourth, one word is interca-
lated with another; as;—yosinindi, I know; mani, an
estimable thing; yosinimanindi, I love or esteem.

There are many words in this language which ex-
press quite different things, according to the con-
nection in which they are used, as;—yondakandh,
I accompany somebody, means also ‘I ask; yoyuhuindi,
I counsel, signifies also, I go to receive somebody
on the road; also, let us go; etc. Reverential terms
are of frequent occurrence, necessitating almost a sep-
arate language when addressing superiors. For in-
stance ; —noho, teeth; yeknya yuchiva, teeth of a lord;
dzitui, nose; dutuya, nose of a lord; dzoho, ears; tna-
haya, ears of a lord. There is no regular plural,
but plurality is expressed by the word ‘many,’ or
the number. Personal pronouns are;—I, speaking to
inferiors or equals, duhu, ndi; I, speaking with su-
periors, fadzaiia, iadza, idea; thou, doho, ndo; thou,
used by females speaking to their children, diya, nda;
you, or your honor, dist, maini, ni; he, ta, tay, yukua;
she, fia, (also used by women speaking of men); he
or she, ‘speaking respectfully, ya, iya; we, ndoo; you,
doho; they, ta, tay, yukua. The pronouns, ndi, ndo, ta,
are affixed to the verb; and the pronouns, duhu, doho,
and ¢ai, are prefixed; iadzaia, is usually prefixed; tadza
or ndza, affixed; disi, and maini, are generally prefixed,
ni is affixed; diya, is prefixed and fia, ndoo, and ya, are
affixed.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO SIN.

PRESENT INDICATIVE,

T sin, yodzatevuindi He sins, yodzatevuita
Thou sinnest, yodzatevuindo We sin, yodzatevuindoo

I sine
I shal

Let m
Sin th
Let hi

Ve
or sa
the d
from
grou;
of Te
the b

Th
lows.

Daz
Ou

sanani
thy nar

dzavus
asa
tasinis
give us n
yodzan
we fe
tandod.
will f

nakuvu
be it made

For ¢
the dial
of Mizt

Ditu
quixid tc
yohd d
itfan. ta:
tnaha di
ntziuhu
nuu ndit

MIZTEC GRAMMAR AND LORD’S PRAYERS. 751

. IMPERFECT. hau PLUPERFECT.
I sinned, nidzatevuindi | I had sinned, sanidzatevuindi

FIRST FUTURE SECOND FUTURE.
I shall sin, dzatevuindi | I shall have sinned, sadzatevuikandi
IMPERATIVE.

Let me sin, nadzatevuindi Let us sin, nadzatevuindoo
Sin thou, dzatevui Sin you, chidzatevui
Let him, or them sin, nadzatevuita

Verbal nouns are formed by prefixing the syllable sa,
or sasi, to the present indicative of the verb. Regarding
the dialects of the Miztec, Pimentel quotes the following
from Father Reyes’ grammar, All the dialects may be
‘grouped into two principal languages, which are those
of Tepuzculula and Yangiiitlan. That of Tepuzculula is
the best understood throughout the district of Mizteca.
: The Pater Noster in the Tepuzculula dialect is as fol-
ows.

Dzutundoo yodzikani andevui nakakunahihuahandoo,
Our father thou art heaven let us praise,

sananini nakisi santoniisini nakuvui fluufiayevui inini
thy name come thy kingdom __ be done (in the) world thy will

dzavuatnaha yokuvui andevui, Dzitandoo yutnaa yutnaa
as also be done (in) heaven. Our bread each day

tasinisindo huitno dzaandoui kuachisindoo dzavuatnaha
give us much = to-day _— forgive us our sins as well as

yodzandoondoo suhani sindoo huasa kivuifiahani nukui-
we forgive debtor ours not lead us we

tandodzondoo kuachi tavuifahani safahuahua, Dzavua
will fall in sin deliver you from evil, So

nakuvui.
be it made,

For the purpose of illustrating the difference between
the dialects, I insert two other Pater Nosters, the first
of Miztec bajo, and the second of the alto dialect:

Dutundo hiadicani andfvi fact hii ha nininf: na-
quixidica saténixinif: naciu ndidu inini funahivi
yohd daguatnaha yo ctu ini andivi. Ditdindo itidn
itfan taxinia nundi vichi; te dandooni cuuchindi dagua
tnaha dandoondi naa ni dativi nundi: te maza diéfani
ntziuhu uncaguandi fia dativindi: te cuneguahanindi
nuu nditaca fia unguaha, Duha na cuu Jesus.

752 LANGUAGES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MEXICO.

Dzutuyo iyoxicani andivi nacui hii fiandnini. Na-
quixi xatoniixini. Nacdhui ndudzuinini ufiaiviyéhd,
sahuatna yocthui ini andivi. Dzitiyo itian itian ta-
xini nundi vichi: sandoo-ni cudchiyo, sahuatanha yo
sandondi nanidzativi nundi taun-saydhani fiacanaca-
huandi zadzativindi. Sacacunino fiahani nuu_ nditaca
fia hunhua. Dzaa nacuu Iya lesus.”

Another language, said to be connected with the
Miztec is the Amusgo. Wedged in between the Miztec
and Zapotec are several tongues, of which, excepting a
few Lord’s Prayers, I find nothing mentioned but the
names; it is not improbable that some of them were
only dialects of either the Miztec or Zapotec. These
are the Mazatec, Cuicatec, and Chinantec, which latter
is described as a very guttural tongue, with a rather
indistinct pronunciation, so that it is difficult to dis-
tinguish the vowels; further there are mentioned the
Chatino, Tlapanec, and Popoluca.’® Orozco y Berra de-
clares that the following names designate the Popoluca in
different states. Thus the Chocho, Chochona, or Chuch-
on, is said by him to have been called,—in Puebla,
the Popoluca; in Guerrero, the Tlapanec; in Michoacan,
the Teco; and in Guatemala, the Pupuluca.” Of these
languages I have the following Lord’s Prayers:

CHOCHO OR CHUCHON.

Thafiay theefingarmhi athiytnuthu y fay dithifi
achuua dinchaxifii atatcu ndithetatcu cagiifii, nchi-
yatheetatcu ngarmhi andaatatcu sacermhi y teama caa-

4 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i, pp. 41-79; Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii., pt
iii., pp. 31-41; Catecismo del P. Ripaldo, traducida al Misteco; Catecismo en
idioma Mizteco.

15 Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, p. 712. Chinantec ‘con la dificultad de la

ronunciacion, y vozes tan equitiocas que con vn mesmo termino mas blando
mas recid dicho significa disonante sentido,’ ‘Por que la locucion es
entre dientes, violenta, y con los accentos de consonantes asperas, confusas
las vocales, sin distincion vnas de otras que parecian bramidos, mas que
terminos de locucion,’ Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. i., fol. 183., tom. ii,
fol. 284, 286; Villa-Sefior y Sanchez, Theatro, tom. ii., pp. 137, 141, 163, 187,
189, 197; Orozco y Berra, Geografta, pp. 187-197; Hakluyt’s Voy., vol. iii.,

. 497,
? aa alate Hist, Gen., tom. iii., lib, x., p. 135; Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii.,
p. ’

tirrub,
dic ns
najin;
nedch:
tuajin,

Tata
fliers ;
donjars
najin }
guitena
jin, qu
niquest

Of tl

Chid
fia; chi
Duieca }
chi jubi
ticono, «
nons, ati
ni chin

Chid
dende ¢
vedinun
dingue d
code dec

Vd

MAZATEC AND CUICATEC LORD'S PRAYERS. 753

tuénesacaha cahau cahau atzizhuqhee caa tuénesacaha
di éfiihay a taanguyheene cagifii, ditheethaxengaqhine
tuénesacaha nchiyaquichuu, ditheetaanguyheene cagi-
quichuu....sacaha, thiytheecheéxengaghine quichuu
sacaha netcanga yhathamifi ¢ixitgeyasacaha yhee
cheecaamifi cheecaaqhi nemifi caatuénesacaha caanen-
ndifafia andataazu.

Of the Mazatec there are two specimens, which do
not appear to accord, thus showing how little regard
was paid to names:

Nadmini Naind ga tecni gahami, sandumi ili ga
tirrubanajin nanguili, Cuaha catama janimali, jacunit
dic nangui cunit gahami. Nifio rrajinna tey quitaha
najin; qntedchatahanajin gadchidtonajin jacunitgajin
nedchata alejin chidtaga tedtunajin. Guquimit tacun-
tuajin, tued tinajin cuacha ca tama.

Tata nahan xi nac& nihaseno: chacuca, catoma
fiieré; catichov4 rico manimajin. Catoma cuazuare,

donjara batod cor nangui, bateco, nihasen: niotisla
najin ri ganeihinixtin, tinto najin dehi; nicanuhi ri
guitenajin donjara batoo, juirin ni canojin ri quiteisja-
jin, quiniquenahi najin ri danjin quis anda nongo
niqueste. Meé.

Of the Cuicatec there are also two dialects:

Chidao, chicane cheti jubi chintuico fia; cobichi, jubi
fia; chichif, chicobi no ns: fendi fia; cobichi fienofia,
Duica hahin, fahdn tando cheti jubi. Nondo tecno;
chi jubi, jubi; techi ni nons: ma dinenino, ni chi can-
ticono, dinen, tandonons; dineninono chi canti co hehen
nons, ata condicno; na tentac ioh, ante danhi, dinenino
ni chin que hé danhi.

Chida deco, chicanede vae chetingue cuivicu duchi
dende cuichi nusun dende vue chetingue cui, tundube
vedinun dende tica nafiaa, tandu vae chetingue yn
dingue deco de huehue techide deco guema yna deche-

code deco ducue ticu tica, tandu nusun nadecheco dee-
Vou. III, 48

764 LANGUAGES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MEXICO.

vioducue chichati cusa yati, tumandicude cuitao vendi-
cuido nanguaedene ducue chiguetae.”

The ancient kingdom of Zapotecapan, in which the
Zapotec language was spoken, extended from the valley
of Oajaca as far as Tehuantepec. The different dialects
were, the Zaachilla, Ocotlan, Etla, Netzicho, Serrano de
Ixtepec, Serrano de Cajones or Beni-Xono, :.nd Serrano
de Miahuatlan.* The Zapotec is a more harmonious
language than the Miztec, and is spoken with consider-
able elegance, metaphors and parables abounding.” Yet
it is in some places pronounced indistinctly; so much so
that Juan Cérdova, the author of a grammar, complains
that the letters a and 9, e, y, and i, o and wu, b and p, and
¢ and r, are often confounded. The A is used only as
an aspirate. The following letters of the alphabet rep-
resent the sounds of the Zapotec: a, b, ch, e, g, h, 4, h,
l,m, n, fi, 0, p, 7, t, u, y, wv, 2, th. There are also five
diphthongs: @, @, ei, ie, ow. The plural is expressed
either by numerals or by adjectives ;—pichina, deer ; ziani
pichina, many deer. Like the Aztec, Miztec, and others,
the Zapotec has reverential terms. ‘The personal pro-
nouns are;—naa, ya, a, I; lohui, loy, looy, lo, thou;
yohbina, your honor (when speaking to superiors) ; nikani,
nike, nikee, ni, ke, he or they; yobint or yobina, he,
(speaking respectfully); taono, tono, tonoo, tona, no, noo,
we; lato, to, you.

Possessives ;—wxitenia, mine; «itenilo, thine; wxitenini,
his; witenitono or witenino, ours; xitenito, yours. Interrog-
atives used with animate beings, are;—tuaxa or tuia, tu
or chu; and with inanimate things: withara, viiaa, ant;
koota is used for either animate or inanimate objects.

17 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii., pp. 259-62,
18 Villa-Serior y Sanchez, Theatro, tom. ii., pp. 190-9; Museo Mex., tom.

ii 554; Mihlenpfordt, Mejivo, tom. ii., p. 186; Wappiius, Geog, u. Stat.,

Pp ‘ah: Orozco y Berra, Geograsia, p. 177; Burgou, Geog, Descrip., tom. ii.,
ow, 312.

19 ‘Su lenguage era tan metaforico, como el de los Palestinos, lo quo
querian persuadir, hablaban siempre con parabolas.’ Burgoa, Geo, Descrip.,
tom. i., fol. 196. ‘La langue Zapotéque est d’une douceur et d'une sono-
rit qui rappelle l'Italien,’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hsquisses, p. 3b,

The
the di
Ocotlar
the tie

The
the Cat

laalo |
thy name

lalo = zii
a

layoo.

earth, ‘Th

a koza
not

ZAPOTEC GRAMMAR AND LORD'S PRAYER. 755

There are four conjugations, which are distinguished
by the particles with which they commence. The first
uses, in the present, éa, in the past, ka, and in the
future, ka; the second has te, pe, and ke; the third, ti,
ko, ki; and if they are passives, ti, pi, ki, or ti, ko, and
ka; the fourth uses to, pe, and ko.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO DIG,

PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I dig, tanaya We dig, tieenano
Thou diggest, tanalo You tanato
He digs, or they dig, tanani

IMPERFKCT, PRAFECT.
IT dug, _tanatia, konatia, or konayn | I have dug, zianaya
PLUPERFECT,

I had dug, huayanaya, konakalaya, zianakalaya,
or, huayanakalaya

FIRST FUTURE.
I shall dig, kanaya
IMPERATIVE.

Dig thou, kona
Tet us dig, lakeyanano, or kolakieenano
Dig you, kolakana

OTHER FORMS.

If I would dig, nianalayaniaka
If I have dug, zinnatilaya
If I shall dig, nikanaya

The following is an example of the differences between
the dialects, Child in the Zaachilla is datoo; in the
Ocotlan, metho; in the Etla, binnito; in the sierra, bitao; in
the tierra caliente, bato.

The Pater Noster with literal translation taken from
the Catecismo of Leonardo Levanto, reads as follows.

Bixoozetonoohe kiiebaa nachiibalo nazitoo ziikani
Father our heaven thou who art above great has been done

laalo kellakookii xtennilo kita ziika ruarii nitiziguee-
thy name _—ikingdom thine —_ will come here thy will

lalo ziika raka kiaa, kiiebaa laaniziika gaka ruarii
as is done above, heaven as be done here

layoo. Xikonina kixec kixee peneche ziika anna chela
earth, ‘The bread of allus to-morrow give also to-day and

a kozaanafiaaziikalo tonoo niiani ya kezihuina: peziilla
not lead us us that we sin: deliver

7566 LANGUAGES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MEXICO

zika tonoo niiaxtenni kiraa kellahuechiie. Gaga ziiga
also ua of all evil. Will be done sv
ziika.”

80.

Between the head waters of the Rio Nexapa and Go-
atzacoalco the Mije language is spoken. It is described
as guttural and rough, and by some as poor in words,
necessitating auxiliary gestures. The bishop of Oajaca, to
whose diocese they belonged, in a letter to Archbishop
Lorenzana stated that he had a people under him, who
could only converse during daylight, for at night they
could not see their gestures and without these were un-
able to understand each other.” The following alphabet
is used by Pimentel in writing this language ;—a, , ch, e,
h, i, k, m, n, ii, 0, p, t, u, v, #, y, tz. ‘Two and more con-
sonants frequently follow one another in the same sylla-
ble, as;—akx, epa, itzp, otzk, mma, mne, mpi, mto, man,
etc. Vowels are also frequently double, as;—466, arms;
teikkaa, and tinaak, stomach. In declensions the geni-
tive is formed by prefixing the letter 1;—éuh, name;
dios ixéuh, name of God. The plural is formed by the
terminal toch ;—toix, woman; toiatoch, women.

PRONOUNS.
I btz, n, ndtz
Thou ix, mitz, mi, mim, n
Thou, speaking with revurence mih
He t, i
He, or they who hudiiphee, hudii
He, or they who (affixed) phee, hee
This, these phee, hee, yaat
Who yon
We btz, n
They yid
Mine ndtz
Thine m, mitzm
His i
Our, ours ddtzn, nddtz, n

20 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., pp. 321-60; Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1841,
tom. xcii., p. 260, et seq.

1 ‘ Expressa el Illmo Sefior Obispo de Oaxaca en su Pastoral, que en su
Diocesis hay una Lengua, que solo de dia se entienden bien, y que de noche
en npagindoles la luz, ya no se pueden explicar, porque con los gestos signi-
fican.’ Lorenzana y Buitron, Cartas Pastorales, p, 96, note 1. ‘Tambien
su idioma tiene fuerca y energia,’ Burgoa, Geog. Deserip., tom. ii., fol. 271.
‘Lingua illorum, redis et crassum quid sonans instar Allemanorum.’ Lael,
Novus Orbis, p. 262; Barnard’s Tehuantepec, pp. 224-5; Villa-Sevior y San-

Ntei
Fath

xduh 1
name
ya na;
as in
mopom
daily
pokpa -
sin
katii O¢
not {
huinonr
temptation

kuxmit.
from,

The Ie
Tehuant
to the a
by water

chez, Theatre
143; Museo .
22 Piment

MIJZ ADVERBS, PREPOSITIONS, AND CONJUNCTIONS. 1757

ADVERBS, PREPOSITIONS, AND CONJUNCTIONS.

Kati

heem
xima
kahundiin
niik
hueniit
ko

kixm

Inside, within

Before huindui
Why, what for heekixm
That huen

As much, so that ixtandm
Not yet katiinam
How, since ixta

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

Nteitédtz tzaphoitp mtzOnaiphee konuikx itot mitzm
Father our inheaven — who lives blessed be thy

xtuh momoikéétz mitzm konkion itunot mitzm tzokn
name give us thy kingdom bedone thy will

ya naxhuifi ixta ituifiu tzaphoitp. Odtan kaik opo-
as in earth as isdone in heaven. Our bread

mopomit momoik6détz yoniit etz moyaknitokoikédtan
daily give us to-day and forgive us

pokpa ixta d6tz niaknitokoi 66tzn yachotmaatpa etz
sin as we forgive our offender and

katii 66tz ixmomatztuit heekuxm katii 66tz nkedai
not as lead that not as let us carry

huinonn kixn. Etz mokohuankdéétz nahihum Ranlapheo
temptation —_ in, And deliver all evi
kuxmit.”

from,

The language of the Huaves spoken on the isthmus of
Tehuantepec, is, according to tradition, not indigenous
to the country. It is related that these people came
by water from a place down the coast, although the lo-

chez, Theatro, tom. ii., pp. 155, 199-201; Mihlenpfordt, Mejico, tom. ii., p.
143; Museo Mewx., tom. ii., p. 555; Orozco y Berra, Geografia, p. 176.
22 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii., pp. 173-88.

768 LANGUAGES OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MEXICO.

cality whence they came is not given.” I have only
the following numerals as a specimen of the language.

One anoeth Ten agax-poax

Two izquied Eleven agax-panocthx
Three areux Twelve agax-pieuhx
Four apequiti Thirteen agax-par

Five acoquiat Fourteen agax-papeux

Six anaiti Vifteen agax-pacoigx
Seven aydit LIwenty nicumaio

Eight axpecati Thirty nieuminomcaxps
Nine axqueyeti One hundred anoecacocmiau *!

% *Y ge dixo antes, que la nacion destos Indios huabes avian venido de
tierras muy lexanas, de alla de la Costa del Sur, mas cerca de la Eclyptica
vezindad del Peri, y segun las circunstancias de su lengua, y trato de la
Provincia 6 Reyno de Nicarahua,’ Burgoa, Geog. Descrip., tom. ii., fol. 396;
‘El huave, huavi, guave, llamado tambien en un antiguo MS. guazonteca 6
huazonteca, se habla en el Estado de Oaxaca, Los huaves son originarios
de Guatemala; unos les hacen de Ia filiacion de los peruanos, fundandose en
la semejanza de algunas costumbres, mientras otros les suponen hermanos
de los pueblos de Nicaragua. La segunda opinion nos parece la mas acer-
tada, y aun nos atreveriamos & creer que el huave pertenece 4 la familia
maya-quiché.’ Orozco y Berra, Geografia, pp. 44, 74. ‘Il parait démon-
tré, cependant, que la langue des Wabi a de grandes analogies avec quel-

a’une de celles qu’on parlait & Nicaragua.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist.
fat. Civ., tom. iii., p. 36.
% Sivers, Mittelamerika, p. 290.

The
Ameri
impro
Maya.
in the
extend
and
it occu
south

‘ out ove

farther
termina
Tamau
last m

these 1:
de Pal

in the |
cludes i

CHAPTER XI.

THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES,

Tue Maya-Qoicuk, THE LANGUAGES OF THE CIVILIZED NATIONS OF CENTRAL.
AMERICA—ENUMERATION OF THE MEMBERS OF THIS Faminy —HypotTuet-
ICAL ANALOGIES WITH LANGUAGES OF THE OLD WoripD—Lorp’s Prayers
IN THE CHANABAL, CHIAPANEC, CHox, TZENDAL, Zoque, AND Zorzir-—
Poxoncat GramMMAR—THE MAME ok ZAKLOPAHKAP—QUICHE GRAMMAR -—-
CaxkcHiquEL Lorp’s Priyern—Maya GrammMarn—TotTonac GRAMMAR—
Toronac DraLEcts—HuastEc GRAMMAR.

The languages of the civilized nations of Central
America, being all more or less affiliated, may be not
improperly classified as the Maya-Quiché family, the
Maya constituting the mother tongue. Commencing
in the neighborhood of the river Goazacoalco, thence
extending over Tabasco, Chiapas, Yucatan, Guatemala,
and portions of Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua,
it occupies the same relatively important position in the
south as the Aztec farther north. Besides spreading
‘ out over this immense area, there are two branches still
farther north, isolated from the mother tongue, yet con-
terminous to each other, the Huastec and the Totonac of
Tamaulipas and Vera Cruz. Without including the
last mentioned, probably the fullest enumeration of all
these languages, is given by the Licenciado Diego Garefa
de Palacio, in a letter addressed to the King of Spain,
in the year 1576. Omitting the Aztec, which he in-

cludes in his catalogue, his summary is substantially as
(759)

760 THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES.

follows. In Chiapas, the Chiapanec, Tloque, Zotzil, and
Zeldal-Quelen; in Soconusco, a tongue which he desig-
nates as the mother language and another called the
Vebetlateca; in Suchitepec and Guatemala, the Mame,
Achi, Guatemaltec, Chinantec, Hutatec, and Chirichota;
in Vera Paz, the Pokonchi, and Caechicolchi; in the
valleys of Acacebastla and Chiquimula, the lacacebastla,
and Apay; and in the valley of San Miguel, the Poton,
Taulepa, and Ulua. Other authors mention, in Guate-
mala the Quiché, the Cakchiquel, the Zutugil, the Chorti,
the Alaguilac, the Caichi, the Ixil, the Zoque, the
Coxoh, the Chafiabal, the Chol, the Uzpanteca, the
Aguacateca, the Quecchi; and in Yucatan, the stock lan-
guage, the Maya. Among all these languages thus
enumerated by different authors, it is not at all unlikely
that some have been mentioned twice under different
names.' Most, if not all of them, are related to, if in-
deed they did not spring from one mother tongue, the
Maya, of which a dialect: called the Tzendal is said to
be the oldest language spoken in any of these countries.
In fact, they all appear to be dialects and variations of
some few tongues of yet greater antiquity, which again
have sprung from the oldest of all, the Maya. This
latter, I may say, forms the linguistic centre, from which
all the others radiate, decreasing in consanguinity ac-
cording to the distance from this centre, losing, by inter-
mixture, and the adoption of foreign words, their
aboriginal forms, until on reaching the outer edge of
the circle, it becomes difficult to trace their connection
with the source from which they sprang.’

1 Palacio, Carta, p. 20; Juarros, Hist. Guat., p. 198; Registro Yucateco,
tom. i., p. 166; Galindo, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. iii., pp.95, 63; Galla-
tin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 4-7; Miihlenpfordt, Mejico,
tom. ii., pp. 8, 17; Wappiius, Geog. u. Stut., p. 245; Herrera, Hist. Gen.,
dee. iv., lib. x., cap. ii-xiv.; Laet, Novus Orbis, pp. 277, 317, 325; Humboldt,
Essai Pol., tom. i., p. 267; Heller, Reisen, p. 380; Galindo, in Antiq. Mex.,
p. 67; Norman's Rambles, p. 238; Haef'kens, Cent. Amer., p. 412; Prichard’s
Nat. Hist. Man, vol, ii., p. 518; Behrendt’s Report, in Smithsonian Rept.,
1867, p. 425; Squier’s Monograph, ?. ix.; Villagutierre, Hist. Cong. Itza, p. 84.

2 The languages of the Maya family are spoken in the old provinces of
Soconusco, Chiapas, Suchitepec, Vera Paz, Honduras, Izalcos, Salvador, San
Miguel, Nicaragua, Xerez de Choluteca, Tegucigalpa, and Costa Rica, says
the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, MS. Troano, tom. ii., p. vi. ‘La plu-

table q
l’invas;
trées,
* Lacan
une lan
‘Le Tx
peu.’ /
maya p
cake ‘hig
trés-har
les dific!
tros-dist
bles son
tom. ii,
8’avanc

lengua y
Berra, de
37,
ses forme
lyse de cl
d2rivés,’
Maya ton
ext-emely
The whd

THE MAYA LANGUAGE IN YUCATAN. 761

The Maya, with its many affiliations, may be well com-
pared in its grammatical construction and capacity to the
Aztec. It has in this respect been likened to the ancient
Greek which it is said to resemble in many points. Al-
though monosyllabic words are of frequent occurrence, it
uas not, as is common to monosyllabic languages, many
very harsh and guttural sounds, but is generally called
soft and well-sounding. The dialects spoken on the coast
of Yucatan and near Belize, are the purest and most ele-
gant of the Maya family, and the greater the distance from
this region, the greater are the variations from the pure
Maya.’ Some remarkable hypotheses, which, if proven,

part des langues de cette contrée, si multiples au premier aspect, se réduisent
en réalité & un petit nombre. Ce sont des dialectes qui ne different les uns
des autres que par le mélange de quelques mots étrangers, une certaine
variété Anca los finales ou dans la prononciation.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, in
Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1855, tom. exlvii., p. 155. ‘Il me parait indubi-
t:ble que la langue universelle des royaumes guatémaliens devait étre, avant
l'invasion des tribus que les Espagnols trouvérent en possession de ces con-
trées, le maya d’Yucatan ou ke tzendal qui lui ressemble beaucoup.’ Ib.
‘Lacandons....les Mames, Povomames, etc., qui parlent encore aujourd'hui
une langue presqu’en tout semblable a celle des Yucateques.’ Jd., p. 156.
‘Le Tzendal ou Teeldal et un dialecte de la langue zotzile dont il differe fort
peu.’ Id., Palenqué, p. 34. ‘Toutes sont issues d’une seule souche, dont le
maya parait avoir gardé le plus grand nombre d’éléments. Le quiché, le
caleshiquel, le mame, le tzendal, sont marqués eux-mémes au sceau d’une
tras-hante antiquité, amplement partagée par le mevicain ou nahuall malgré
les difiuences que comporte sa grammaire; car si ses formes et sa syntaxe sont
tros-distinctes de celles du maya, on peut dire, néanmoins, que tous ces voca-
bles sont composés de racines communes & tout le groupe. Jd., MS. Troano,
tom. ii., pp. vii., viii. ‘La langue primitive forme le centre; plus elle
s’avance vers la circonférence, plus elle perde de son originalité la tangente,
c’est-a-dire le point ot elle rencontre un autre idiome, est l’endroit ot elle
s‘altére pour former une langue mixte.’ Wildeck, Voy. Pitt., pp. 24, 42.
‘Les Taitzaes, les Cehntches, les Campims, les Chinamitas, les Locénes, les
Ytzaes et les Lacandons. ‘Toutes ces nations parlent la langue maya, ex-
cepté les Locénes, qui parlent ls langue Chol.’ Ternaux-Compans, in Nou-
velles Annales des Voy., 1843, tom. xevii., p. 50; Id., 1840, tom. Ixxxviii.,
p. 6. ‘La de Yucatan, y Tab.seo, que es toda vna.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist.
Conq., fol. 25; Solis, Hist. Mex., tom. 1., p. 89. ‘Zoques, Celtales y Quéle-
nes, todos de lenguas diferentes.’ Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, pp. 264, 299; also*
in Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, p. 269; Helps’ Span. Conq., tom. iii., p. 252;
Squizr, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1855, tom. exlviii., p. 275, Id., 1857,
tom. cliii., pp. 175, 177-8. The natives of the island of Cozumel ‘son de la
lengua y costumbres de los de Yucatan.’ Lundi, Relacion, p. 12; Orozco y
Berra, Geografia, pp. 18-25, 55-56.

3 ‘La simplicité originale de cette langue et la régularité merveilleuse de
ses formes grammaticales, c’est la facilité avec laquelle clle se préte 4 l’ana-
lyse de chcun de ces vocables et & la dissection des racines dont ils sont
divivés.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, MS. Troano, tom. ii., pp- iii., vi., v. ‘The
Maya tongue spoken in the northern parts of Yucatan, is remarkable for its
ext-emely gattural pronunciation.’ Gordon's IIist. and Geog, Mem., p. 73.
‘The whole of the native languages are exceedingly guttural in their pro-

762 THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES.

would revolutionize many existing theories, ethnologic
and philologic, have latterly been brought forward by
the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg. This gentleman,
who has devoted himself to the study of ancient Cen-
tral America and Mexico for many years, and who is
fully conversant with the languages of Yucatan and
Guatemala, the Maya and Quiché, claims to have dis-
covered a close connection between the Maya, Quiché,
Cakchiquel, Zutugil, and others, with most of the chief
languages of Europe; prominent among which he places
the Greek, but mentions also Latin, French, English,
German, Flemish, Danish, and others, Although on ex-
amination many of the abbdé’s so-called roots display
similarities, both phonetic and in meaning, with some
European words, still a large majority are evidently
twisted to conform to the writer’s ideas, and it will
require not alone further investigations, but unpreju-
diced studies, such as are not made for the purpose of
proving any particular hypothesis, to substantiate his
theories. Until such impartial comparisons are made,
and a clearer light thrown upon the subject, these Central
American languages must remain content to be treated as
strangers to those of the old world. Of the languages
previously enumerated I have the following specimens.

The Lord’s Prayer in Chaiabal, spoken in Comitan,
in the state of Chiapas:
Tattic hay culchahan tanlinubal 4 vihil jacué eg

nunciation.’ Dunn's Guatimala, p. 265. ‘Diese Sprache war wohlklingend
und weich.’ Jfiiller, Amerikanische Urreligionen, p. 453; Ternaux-Compans, in
ad Annales des Voy.,1843, tom. xcvii., p. 32; Squier, in Id., tom. cliii.,
p. 178,
: 4 *Dans ces langues kakchiquéle, kichée et zutugile, les mots qui n’ap-
partiennent pas au Maya, m’ont tout lair d’étre d'origine germanique, sax-
ons, danois, flamands, anglais méme.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, in Nouvelles
Annales des Voy., 1855, tom. cxlvii., pp. 156-7. ‘Je fus frappé, dés mon ar-
ivée,...de la similitude qu’une quantité de mots de leur lingue offrait avec
‘Hes du nord de l'Europe.’ Id., Letire a M. Rafn, in Id., tom, clx., 1858, pp.
3, 281-90. ‘The fundamental forms and words of the Janguages of these
. ‘ions (except the Mexican) are intimately connected with the Maya or
". -udal and that all the words, that are neither Mexican nor Maya, belong
tc ur languages of Northern Europe, viz., English, Saxon, Danish, Nor-
we .an, Swedish, Flemish and German, some even appear to belong to the
Fr ich and Persian, and pitcaether they are really very numerous and as-
to. ding.’ Id., Letter in the New York Tribune, November 21, 1855,

acatal
ta chi
acabe:
yaotic
joltiqu
enax {

Lor
pas, a

The
yamin
quesi {

CHIAPANEC, CHOL, AND TZENDAL. 768

bagtic 4 guajan acotuc 4 guabal hichuc ili lnhum jastal
culchahan. Yipil caltzil eg gliiniquil tic aquitic sva
yabanhi soc culanperdon eg multic hichuc quej ganticon
guazt culanticon perdon maché hay smul sigilticon soc
mi ztagua concoctic mulil mas lec coltayotic scab pucuj
jachuc.

Lord's Prayer in Chiapanec:

Pua manguemé nilumi cané nacapajé totemomo co-
pamimé chambriomo chalayaé guipumutamii gadilojé
istanacuptt caji uct nacopajé: cajilo bata yacameomo
nuori may tariiii mindami oguajimé Ha copomimemo
taguajime nambucamuiieme cnqueme gadiluci si memu
casimemu tagnagimé nambucamuieme copé tipusitumu
bica tipucapuimu mujarimimuhame mangueme. Diusi
mutarila nitangame chacuillame caji Jesus.

Lord's Prayer in Chol:

Tiat te lojon, aué tipuchan utzat alvilacavai trictic
tolején han gracia chulee vili¢ & pucical vafchec ti
paniumil chee tipanchan. Laa cual ti juun pel quin,
de vennomelojén gualee sutven lasvet baschee mue sut-
venlaa y vetob laspibulob. Lilastel ti lolontecl cotanon
melojon y chachan jaipel y tiué nialoloion. Amen
Jesus.

Lord’s Prayer in Tzendal, as spoken near the cele-
brated ruins of Palenque:

Tatic, ta nacalat tachulchan: chulalviluc te ajalalvilé:
acatalic te aguajualé: acapastayuc: te tuxacané tajich
ta chulchan jichucnix ta valumilal. Ecuctae jujhan
acabeyaotic te guag vixtum cuntic tajujun caal chaybe-
yaotic te multic achiotic chaybetic ate hay smul cagto-
joltique soyoc mameaguac yalucotic ta mulil colta yaoti-
cnax tastojol piscil te colae. Amen Jesus.

Lord’s Prayer in Zoque, as spoken in Tabasco, Chia-
pas, and parts of Oajaca.

Theshata tzapguesmue itupue yavecotzamué mis nei,
yaminé mis yumihacui, ya tuque mis sunoycui, yecnas-
quesi tzapquesmuese, Tesané hoimuepe homepe tzihete

764 THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES.

yshoy, yatocoyates mis hescova hes jaziquet mis atocoi-
pasé thesquesipue jatzi huitemistetzaeu hocysete cui-
jomue ticomaye ya cotzocamisthe mumuyatzipue quesi,
tese yatuque. Amen Jesus.

Lord’s Prayer in Zotzil:

Totit ot-te nacal oi ta vinagel-utzilaluc 4 vi-acotal
aguajualel-acopas huc 4 chul cano-echuc nox ta vinagel-
eclusé ta valumil-acbeotic € cham-llocom Illocomutic
-ech xachaibeutic-cuié tag tojolic-ma 4 guae llalu-
cuntic-ta altajoltic-ech xacolta utic nox ta stojol ti coloc.
Amen Jesus.°

Of the Pokonchi Language I have a short grammar,
by Thomas Gage, which has also been used by Vater
and Gallatin. Following are a few of its prominent
features:

Nouns are declined by the aid of particles, of which
there are two kinds, varying accordingly as the word to
be declined commences with a consonant or with a
vowel. For words commencing with a consonant the par-
ticles nu, a, ru, ca, ata, and quitacque are used; and for
those commencing with a vowel, v, av, 7, ¢c, or g, ta,
qu, and tacque. These particles are partly prefixed and
partly affixed, as will appear in the following examples.
So the word pat, house, and tat, father, are by Gage de-
clined in the following manner.

My house nupat Our house capat

Thy house apat Your house apatta

His house rupat Their house quipattacque
My father nutat j Our father catat

Thy father atat | Your father atatta

His father rutat Their father quitattacque

The declension of the word acun, son, and ixim, corn,
are given by Gage, as follows:

My son vacun Our son cacun

Thy son avacun Your son avacunta

His son racun Their son cacuntaque
My corn vixim Our corn quixim

Thy corn avixim Your corn avicimta

His corn rixim Their corn quiximtacque

5 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. ii., pp. 231-45.

Som
future:
Ver!
ticles ;-
ine tacg
I deliver,

Thou deli
He delive:

Adje
cannot |
good m:

POKONCHI GRAMMAR. 765

Verbs in like manner change the particles, by means
of which they are conjugated, accordingly as the word
commences with a consonant or a vowel. For those
commencing with a consonant the particles are ;—nvw, na,
inru, inca, nata, inquitacque. Thus the word locoh, to love,
is conjugated as follows:

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB LOCOH, TO LOVE,
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
We love,
You love,
They love,

incalocoh
nalocohto
inquilocohtacque

nulocoh
nalocoh
inrulucoh

I love,
Thou lovest,
He loves,

PRESENT PASSIVE.

quiloconhi We are loved,
tiloconhi You are loved,
inroconhi They are loved,

PERFECT PASSIVE.

coloconhi
tiloconhita
quiloconhitacque

I am loved,
Thou art loved,
He is loved,

I have been loved,
Thou hast been loved,
He has been loved,
We have been loved,
You have been loved,
They have been loved,

IMPERATIVE,
Be thou loved,
Let him be loved,
Let us be loved,
Be ye loved,
Let them be loved,

I can love,

I will love,

I have been willing to love,
I have been able to love,

I can love thee,

I will love thee,

xinloconhi
ixtiloconhi
ixloconhi
xolocunhi
ixtiloconhita
xiloconhi tacque

tiloconhi

chiloconho
chizaloconho
tiloconhota
chiquiloconho taque

inchoinulocoh
inranulocoh
ixnulocoh
ixcholixunlocoh
tichol nulocoh
tira nulocoh

Sometimes the verb I will is added to express the
future :——inva, I will; nava, thou wilt; ira, he will.

Verbs beginning with a vowel have the following par-
ticles;—ino, nav, nr, ingu, or inc, nauta, ingu tacque, or
Thus the verb eca, to deliver, is conjugated.

ine tacqite.

I deliver,

Thou deliverest,

He delivers,

inveca
naveca
inreca

We deliver,
You deliver,
They deliver,

inqueca
navecata
inquega tacque

Adjectives are indeclinable, and the plural of nouns
cannot be distinguished from the singular, as ;—Airo uinac,
good man; hiro winic, good men.

766 THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES.

The following Lord’s Prayer comes from the same
source:

Catat taxah vilcat; nimta incaharcihi avi; inchalita
avihauripau cana. Invanivita nava yahvir vacacal,
he invataxab. Chaye runa cahuhunta quih viic; na-
cachtamac, he incachve quimac ximacquivi chiquih;
macoacana chipam cataccuyhi, coavecata china unche
tsiri, mani quiro, he inqui. Amen.°

Of the Mame, or Zaklohpakap, the following ex-
tract is from a grammar written by Diego de Reynoso.
The letters used are: a, b, ch, e, h, 1, kb, 1. m, n, 0, p, t, u,
v, &, y, 2, % There are no special syllables or signs to
express gender, but distinct words are used, as;—mama,
old man; ahkimikeia, old woman; mamail, old age of a
man; keiail, or ahkimikil, old age of a woman. The
plural of animate beings is expressed by the particle e
prefixed to the word ;—vuinak, person; evuinak, persons;
but it is considered as elegant also to affix the same
e;—kiahol, son; ekiahole, sons. For inanimate things,
either numerals or adjectives expressing the plural are
used ;—abah, stone; ikoh abah, many stones. Personal
pronouns are;—ain, I; aia, thou; ahu or ahi, he; ao or
aow, we; ae or aeie, you; aehu or aehi, they.

Me, to me, in me vuih
Thee, to thee, in thee tiha
Him, to him, in him tihu
Us, to us, in us kiho
You, to you, in you kihae
Them, to them, in them kihaehu
Of me, by me vuxm
By thee tuma
By him tumhi
By us kumo
By you kume
By them kumhu
By myself ti

By himeelf tiphi
By ourselves

By yourselves kibe

By themselves kibaehu or kibhu

6 Gage's New Survey, pp. 465-477, et seq.

Of
The k
q 7, t,

xing
twok cc
The so
ority,
feminii

7 Pim

MAME CONJUGATION.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

ain in, or ain inen We are, ao, or aoia

You are, ae, or aeie
They are, aehu

PERFECT.
| I have been, ain hi
PLUPEBFECT.
T had been, ain tokem

FIRST FUTURE. SECOND FUTURE.

in abenelem, or ain loiem | I shall have been, ain luhi
IMPERATIVE.

Be, auin

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB XTALEM, TO LOVE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

T love, ain tzum chim xtalem | We love, tzum ko xtalem o
Thoulovest, tzum xtalem a You love, tzum che xtnlem e
He loves, tzum xtalem hu They love, tzu cho xtalem hu

i IMPERFECT,
T loved, tzum tok chim xtalem
PERFECT,

T have loved, ini xtalim, uni xtale, ma chim xtalim,
ma ni xfale, or ma uni xtale ,

PLUPERFECT.
T had loved, ixtok chim xtalim
FIRST FUTURE.
Ishalllove, uni xtalibetz, orain chim xtalem
BECOND FUTURE.
I shall have loved, ain lo in xtalem
IMPERATIVE.

Love thou, ixtalin o ia
Let him love, ixtalin o hu
Let us love, ko ixtalin o
Love you, ixtalin ke ie
Let them love, ixtalin ke hu 1

Of the Quiché, there is an abundance of material.
The letters used are;—a, ), ¢, e, g, h, 1, &, 1, m, n, 0, p,
q; , t, u,v, @, Y, 2, tz, tch. Gender is expressed by pre-
fixing the noun irok, woman, to the word, as;—coh, lion;
ixok coh, lioness; mun, slave; iwok mun, female slave.
The sound ish expressed by the letter x denotes inferi-
ority, and is therefore frequently used to express the
feminine of inferior beings. U in the Quiché and rv in

7 Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., pp. 84-110.

768 THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES.

the Cakchiquel are either possessive pronouns or denote
the possession of the word which follows. The particles
re and ri are at times used for the same purpose ;—w chuch
ahpop, the mother of the prince; gui quoxtum tinanit,
the ramparts of the town. Before the vowels a, 0, and
u, they are changed toc; and before ¢ and 1, to qu. De-
rivatives are formed with the preposition ah, either pre-
fixed or affixed to the primitive noun ;—car, fish; ahcar,
the fisherman; ¢zih, word; ahtzih, the speaker; etc. No
positive rule can be given for the formation of the
plural, as there are several different methods in use.
The most common appears to be by the affixes ad, eb,
ab, ob, ub;—beom, merchant; plural, beonwb; ixok, woman;
plural, ixokib; ahau, lord; plural, ahauvab. In the Cak-
chiquel language the last letter ) is omitted, as;—
ixokib, women, in Quiché, is ixoki in Cakchiquel.
With adjectives the syllables ak, tak, ic, tic, etc., are
used instead ;—nim, great; nimak ha, great houses ; ‘rihi,
old; ripitak vinak, old people; wiz, good ; utzic va, good
eatables. Adjectives are always placed before the sub-
stantives;——zak, white; zak: ha, white house. Substan-
tives are formed from adjectives by adding one of the
particles, al, el, 21, ol, wl;—nim, great; nimal, the great-
ness; 2k, white; zakil, the whiteness; ut, ‘good ; utzil,
the goodness, These same substantives can be turned
into adjectives again by adding the particle ah ;—nimalah
mak, great sin; utzilah achi, good man. In the same
manner all substantives may be turned into adjectives
by adding one of the particles alah, elah, tah, olah, ulah,
etc.; ahau, king or lord; ahaualah, royal.

To express the comparative, the present participle of
the verb igou, to surpass, which is igouinak, is used,
and sometimes also the word yalacuhinak, from yalacuh,
to exceed. For example ;—nim, great, comparative, igou-
inak chi mim, he who surpasses in greatness; igowinak
chi nim w hebeliquiil ka wokahau Gapoh maria chigui vi co-
nohel ixokib, (literally) surpasses in great beauty our
Lady the Virgin Mary all other women. The superla-
tive is expressed by the syllable maith, very great or

QUICHE PRONOUNS. 769

much; nim, great or greatly; wih, woo, gui, much; all
of which are placed before the word and are followed
by the syllable chi;—maih chi nim, very great; math chi
hebel, very fine; maih chi tinamit, very great city; xo
gatan, very great heat; tih nima ha, very great house.
The adverb /avolo or lolo is also used for the same pur-
pose ;—lavolo or lolo cou ch’ a bana, hold it strong.

The names of colors are duplicated to express the su-
perlative, as;—rax raw, very green; zak zak, very white.

The reverential syllables in use are Jal and la—lal nu
cahau, your excellency is my father; in alcual la, I am
the son of your excellency.

PRONOUNS.
in, nu, nuv

When a noun commences with a consonant, nu, a, u,
in the singular, and ka, y, gut, in the plural are used as
possessive pronouns, but if it commences with a vowel, v,
av’, r, are employed in the singular, and X’, yv’, c’, or qu’,
in the plural.

v’ oyoual
av’ oyoual
r’ oyoual
k’ oyoual
yv’ oyoual
c’ oyoual

INTERROGATIVES.

Who naki apachinak
Who am I ; procs ro vai
Who art thou ape-at-chinak

Vow. IIt. 4

THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES.

INTERROGATIVES.

Who is this apachinak-ri

Who is it naki-la

Who would it be naki-lalo

Who are we apa-oh-chinak

Who are you apa-yx-chinak

Who are they apa-e-chinak

The verb, to be, is expressed by either uz, or go, or

gohe. As an example of its conjugation I insert the in-
dicative present.

Tam, in ux or in qolic

Thon art, at ux * at golic

He is, are ux ** are qolic

2k Rie eee

They are, gh heux “ es he qolic

Four different kinds of verbs are given in the gram-

mar compiled by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg,
which he calls active, absolute, passive, and neuter. The
following sentences are given as specimens of each kind.
Active;—can nu logoh v' ..tih, I love my master. Abso-
lute ;—qu’ i logon, or logonic, I love; qu’ i tzibanic, I write.
Passive ;—ta «-e tzonox rumal ahtzak, then they were in-

terrogated by the creator. Neuter;—gu’ «1 cam, or qut
cam, I die; qu’ in wl, I come; gu’ tbe, I go; qu’ i var, I
sleep.

Following I insert the conjugation of the active verb
to love, in which the word Jogoh, love, commences with
@ consonant, and al.o the conjugation of the active verb
pases to wait, which commences with a vowel, thus

owing the different particles used.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO LOVE.
PRESENT IND{CATIVE,
I love, ca nu logoh We love, ca ka logoh

Thou lovest, oc’ a logo You love, qu’ y logoh
He loves, : ce’ u logoh They love, ca que logoh

PERFECT,
Thave loved, x-in, xi-nu, or x-nu logoh, or nu logom
PLUPERFECT,

Thad loved, _ nu, or x-nu logom-chio

FIRST FUTURE.
I shall love, ch’ in, x-ch’in chi nu, or x-chi nu logoh

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE,

If I love, ca nu logoh-tah

QUICHE CONJUGATIONS.

If I had loved, nu logom-chi-tah
PARTICIPLE,

Loving, logonel

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB OYOBEH, TO WAIT.

PRESENT INDICATIVE.
ca v'oyobeh We wait, ca k’ oyobeh
o’ ay’ oyobeh You wait, qu’ yv’ oyobeh
ca x’ oyobeh They wait, ca c’ oyobeh

PERFECT,
I have waited, _xi-v’ oyobeh, or av’ oyobem
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have waited, chi v’, or xchi v oyobeh
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE,
If I wait, ca v’ oyobeh-tah

In the following three columns I give a specimen of
the conjugation of the absolute, passive, and neuter verb.

PASSIVE.
n’i logox

Doe
ou Ww.
He ib aa

ARSOLUTE,

T love, I am loved,

qu’i logon
o’at logon
ca logon
koh logon
qu’y logon
que logon

Thou lovest,
He loves,
We love,
You love,
They love,

Thou art loved,
He is loved,

We are loved,
You are loved,
They are loved, «

c’at logox
ca legox

koh logox
qu’ix logox
que logox

koh bol
qu’ yx bol
que bol
PASSIVE,
I was loved, Xei logox,
or in logoxinak

B.
We roll,
You roll,
They roll,

T roll, a'i bol
Thou rollest, c’at bol
He rolls, ca bol
ABSOLUTE,
x-i logon,
or in logoninak
NEUTER,
T have arrived, x-in ul, or in ulinak

T have loved,

PASSIVE.
| Ishall beloved, x-qui logox
NEUTER.
T shall arrive, x-qu’in ul

ABSOLUTE.

T shall love, x-qui logon

There are further mentioned a reciprocal and a dis-
tributive verb.
Of the former the following is an example.

ca nu logoh uib

o’a | rib
o’u logoh rib

I love myself,

Thou lovest thyself,
He loves himself,
We love ourselves, ca ka logoh kib
You love yourselves, qu’y logoh yvib
They love themselves, oa qui logoh quib

7712 THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES.

Of the second form this is an example.

Thee I love, cat nu logoh

He loves his father, cu ri, or are logoh a cahau
You love us, koh y logoh

Thee they love, cat que logoh

The prepositions—ma, man, or mana, and mave, are
negatives. When man, or mana, is used with a verb,
the particle tah must be added ;—man ca v’ il-tah, I do
not see. Father Ximenez calls the following irregular
verbs, go, goh, or golic, pa, um, or uaic; gaz, to live, and
oh, or ho, to go. -

The conjugation of the last meationed is as follows.

INDICATIVE PRESENT.

1 £0, h’in We go, o’ho
ou goest, h’at "| You go, h’yx
He goes, ob, or ho They go, h’e

The Zutugil and Cakchiquel appear to bear a closer
relationship to each other, than the Cakchiquel and
Quiché. Some of the principal differences between the
three are the following. The plural of nouns which in
the Quiché is. formed by the affixes ab, eb, ob, ib, ub, is
in the Cakchiquel designated by simply affixing the
vowels of the above syllables, and in the Zutugil by the
affixes ay, ori. The pronouns which inthe Quiché and
Cakchiquel are in, I, ete., are in the Zutugil doubled,
as;—in-in, I, etc. The possessive pronouns differ in all
three of the languages. The Quiché has vech, mine;
avecha, thine; rech, his; kech, ours; yvech, yours; quech,
theirs. In the Cakchiquel these are;—wvichin, avichin,
richin, kichin, yvichin, quichin, and the Zutugil changes
the ch of the Cakchiquel into n;—viain, aviain, riain,
kiain, yoiain, quivin, The dative in the Quiché is chu-
vech, to me, in the Cakchiquel chwvichin, and in the Zu-
tugil, chwvixin. Reciprocal pronouns in the Quiché are
vib, avib, rib, kib, yrib, and quid, and in the Zutugil they
are vi, avi, ri, ki, yi, qui. The verb ganeh, which also
means to love, is in the Cakchiquel and Zutugil conju-

gated as follows.

L love, tin ganeh We love, ti ka ganeh
Thou lovest, tah ganeh You love, y ganeh
He loves, tu ganeh They love, qui ganch

QUICHE AND CAKCHIQUEL LORD’S PRAYERS. 773

There are also many other words which differ in one
or more letters in the three languages, but it appears
that they are nevertheless so much alike that the dif-
ferent people speaking them can understand one another. —

Lord’s Prayer in the Quiché:

Ka cachau chi cab lal qo-vi, r’auazirizaxic-tah bi la.
Chi pe-tah ahauarem la. Chi ban-ta ahauam la, va-
ral chuvi uleu queheri ca ban chi cah. Yah la chikech
ka hutagihil va. Zacha la ka mak, queheri ca ka zacho
qui. mak rii x-e makun chike ruq m’oh ocotah la pa
i Rae mak, xata noh col-ta la pa itzel. Quehe
ch’uxoc.

Lord’s Prayer in Cakchiquel:

Ka tata r’at qoh chi cah, r’auazirizaxic-tah a bi. Ti
pe-ta-ok av’ ahauarem. Ti ban-tah av’ahoom vave
chuvi uleu, quereri tan-ti ban chi cah. Ta yata-ok
chike vacamic ka hutagihil vay. Ta zach-ta-qa-ok ka
mak, quereri tan-ti ka zack qui mak riy x-e makun

chike. Ruquin qa maqui-tah koh av’ocotah pa takchii-
bal mak, xatah koh a colo pan itzel. Quere ok tux.’

Of the Maya Grammar, the following is a brief com-
pendium:

The following alphabet is used to write the Maya lan-
guage: a, b, ¢, ¢, 2, tz, 9, ati, ch, e, h,t, y, k, I,m, n, 9,
P; PP, t, th, u, w. :

The letter ¢ is pronounced like the English 2, or as if
for example the word cambeg, were spelled cambez. The
9 is pronounced as if spelled dj, 915 is pronounced as if
written djib, to write; h, not aspirated, and very fre-
quently omitted; 4, rather guttural; pp and p, sharp
and with force; ¢h, hard, at the same time approximating
slightly the English # The gender of rational beings
is denoted by the prefixes ah, for masculine, and 1, for
feminine;—ah cambezah, master; ix cambezah, mistress.
With animals the particles aibil, for males, and chupul,

8 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Grammaire de la Langue Quiché; Pimentel, Cua-
dro, tom. ii., pp. 126-47.

774 THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES.

for females, is prefixed. An exception to this rule is
the word pal;—wibil pal, the boy; and chupwl pal, the
girl. Nouns form the plural by adding the particle ob;
—ich, eye; ich ob, eyes. Adjectives ending in nac, in
the plural lose their two last syllables and substitute
for them the syllable lac;—kakatndc, an idle thing;
kakldc, idle things. When an adjective and substantive
are joined together, the adjective is always placed be-
fore the substantive, but the plural is expressed only in
the substantive ;—man, winic; good, utzul; utzil uinicob,
good men. To form the comparative, the last vowel of
the adjective with the letter / added to it is affixed; fre-
quently, the particle «J is simply affixed ;—further, the
pronoun of the third person w or pis always prefixed,
in the comparative ;—zbil, a good thing; 2 tibihl, a better
thing; ufz, good; yutzil, or yutzul, better; Job, bad ; ulo-
bol, or ulobil, worse; kaz, ugly; ukazal, or: ukazil uglier.
The superlative i is expressed by the particle hach, which
is pretixed ;—lob, bad; hachlob, very bad. Il added. to
nouns and adjectives serves to make them abstracts,
uinic, man; uinicil, humanity.

There are four kinds of pronouns used in the Maya,
all of which are used in conjugating verbs. But the
two last are also used, united with nouns, or as possess-
ive pronouns, and never alone, or as absolute pronouns.

PRONOUNS.
I ten We téon
Thou tech You. téex
He lay They ldob
I en We on
Thou ech You ex
He laylo They ob
, mine in We, ours ca
Thou, thine a You, yours a-ex
He, his rt They, theirs ti-ob
Mine : u Ours ca
Thins au Yours au-ex
i y Theirs y-ob
RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS.
Myself in-ba Ourselves ca-ba
yself a-ba Yourselves a-ba-ex
Himself ti-ba Themselves ti-ba-ob

I sh

MAYA CONJUGATIONS. 775

CONJUGATION OF THE AUXILLARY VERB TENI, TO BE.
INDICATIVE PRESENT.
Iam, ten We are, téon
Thou art, tech You are, téex
He is, lay They are, l6ob
IMPERFECT.
I was, ten cuchi

PERFECT.
T have been, ten hi

PLUPERFECT.
I had been, ten hi-ili cuchi
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall be, bin ten-ac
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have been, ten hi-ili coshom
IMPERATIVE,
Be, ten-ac
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I be, ten-ac en
IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I were, hi ten-ac
FIRST CONJUGATION OF THE VERB NACAL, TO ASCEND.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.
I ascend, nacal in cah We ascend, nacal ca cah

Thou ascendest, nacal a cah You ascend, nacal a-cah-ex
He ascends, nacal 4 cah They ascend, nacal ti-cah-ob

IMPERFECT. PERFECT.
T ascended, nacal in cah-cuchi | I have ascended, nac-en

PLUPERFECT.
I had ascended, nac-en ili-cuchi

FIEST FUTURE, SECOND FUTURE.
IT shall ascend, bin nacac-en | I shall have ascended, nac-en ili-cuchom
IMPERATIVE.
Ascend, nacac-en

SECOND CONJUGATION CAMBEZAH, TO INSTRUCT.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

LT instruct, cambezah in cah, or ten cambezic
Thou instructest, cambezah4cah, ‘‘ tech cambezic
He instructs, cambezah icah, ‘ lay cambezic
We instruct, cambezah cacah, ‘ nm cambezic
You instruct, cambezah 4 cah-ez, ‘* téex cambezic
They instruct, cambezah ti cah-ob, ‘* Idob cambezic

IMPERFECT.
I instructed, cambezah in cah cuchi
PERFECT.
I have instructed, in cambezah
PLUPERFECT,
I had instructed, in cambezah ili-cuchi

776 THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES.

YIRST FUTURE.
I shall instruct, bin in cambez
SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have instructed, in cambezah ili-cochom

IMPERATIVE,

Let me instruct, in cambez
Instructthou, | cambez
Let him instruct, 4 cambez
Let us instruct, ca cambez
Instruct you, & cambez ex
Let them instruct, G cambez ob

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I instruct, ten in cambez

The third and fourth conjugations not differing from
the above, I do not insert them.

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

Cayum ianeeh ti ciannob cilichthantabac akaba:
Our father whoart in heaven blessed be thy name;

tac a ahaulil c’ okol. Mencahac a uolah uai
it may come thy kingdom us _ over. Bedone ‘thine will as
ti luun bai ti caané. Zanzamal uah ca _ azotoon
on earth as in _ heaven, Daily bread us give
heleae caazaatez c’ ziipil he bik c’ zaatzic uziipil
to-day usforgive our sins as we forgive their sins
ahziipiloobtoone ma ix appatic c’ lubul ti tuntah,
to sinners not also eG us _ fall in temptation

caatocoon ti lob.°
us deliver from evil.

To the two languages the Huaztec and Totonac spoken
respectively in the states of Tamaulipas.and Vera Cruz,
great antiquity is ascribed. I include them both in this
chapter, and classify them with the Maya family; the
Huaztec beesuse its relationship has already been satis-
factorily established by Vater and his successors, and
the Totouac on the statements of Sahagun and other

Beltran de Santa Rosa Marta, Arte; Ruz, Catecismo Historico; Id., Car-

tina; Id., abe Yucateca; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i,

pp. ‘952, ‘et no ; Heller, Reisen, p. 381, et seq.; Vater, Mithridates, tom. iii.,

Be ill. P » pp. 4— + Pimentel, Co; 10, tom. a 5, 923, tom. ii. ae yy iG
de Bourbourg, Grammaire , in La Relacion, pp. 45 79; 1

MS. Troano, tom. ii.

TOTONAC GRAMMAR. 777

good authorities.” Of both of these languages I insert
some grammatical notes. The Totonac is divided into
four principal dialects, named respectively that of the
Sierra Alta or Tetikilhati, that of Xalpan y Ponterec,
or Chakahuaxti, the Tpapana and the Naolingo or Tati-
molo. The following grammar refers specially to the
last dialect.

The letters used are a, ch, ¢, g, h, i, k, J, m, n, 0, p, t,
U, V, &, Y, 2, tz, Uh. Compounded or agglutinated words
are of frequent occurrence; they seem to be joined with-
out any particular system, although it appears that
the last letter is oftentimes omitted. The following
shows the composition of a word ;—liovilhmagatlakacha-
likihuin, to go prophesying; composed of the particle ii,
the verb ovilha, the adverb magat, the substantive laka-
tin, and the verbs chaan and likihuin. There are no par-
ticular signs or letters to express the gender, but in most
cases the words huixkana, male, and pozkat, female, are
pretixed to words.

The plural for animated beings is formed by one of
the following terminations;—n, in, nin, itni, nitni, an,
na, ne, mM, no, nu;—oxga, youth; oagan, youths; aga-
pon, heaven; agaponin, heavens; pulana, captain; pula-
nanin, captains; makan, hand; makaniini, hands; zako,
star; zakonitni, stars; xanat, flower; xanatna, tlowers;
etc., etc.; i and ini are used when the word ends with
a consonant, and nin and nitnt when it ends with a
vowel.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
I akit | We akin
Me kin Us kila, or kinka
Thou huix You huixin
He amah, or huata They huatonin

10 ‘Estos Totonaques decian ser ellas de Guasielas,’ ‘Otros hay,
que entienden la lengua Guasteca.’ Sahagun, Hist. Gen., tom. iii., lib. x.,
pp. 131-2, ‘Im alten Centralamerika also waren die 8S rachen der Toto-
Pebeabe Otimier, Huasteken, Macahuer unter sich sowohi als auch mit der

Sprache in Yucatan verwandt.’ Miiller, Amerih«nische fei abe p. 453;

eaikanische Zustande; tom, i., p. 143; Montanus, Nieuwe eereld, p. 251;

Hassel, Mex. Guat., p 245; Almaraz, Memo-ia, pp. 18, 20; Villa-Sefior y San-

chez, Theatro, tom. 1., pp. 287-91; Bhs wee in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact.,
vol. i., p. 4; Ternauz-Com rapene Nouvelles Annales des Voy. » 1840, tom.
Ixxxviii., p. 7; Vater, Mit ridates, tom. iii., pt iii., p. 106; Orozco y Berra,
Geografia, pp. 18-20, 204.

RIERA aR. re

Se rae

‘

778 THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB IK-PAXKI-Y, I LOVE.
- PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I love, ik-paxki-y _ We love, ik-paxki-yauh
Thou lovest, paxki-a You love, paxki-yatit
He loves, paxki-y They love, paxki-goy
IMPERFECT,
T loved, xak-paxki-y
PERFECT.
Ihave loved, _ik-paxki-lh, or ik-paxki-nit
PLUPERFKCT,
I had loved, xah-paxki-nit
FIRST FUTURE.
I shall love nak-paxki-y

SECOND FUTURE.
I shall have loved, ik-paxki-lh nahuan, or ik-paxki-nit nahuan

IMPERATIVE,
Love, ka-paxki
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.
If I love, kak-paxki-lh
IMPERFECT.
If I loved, xax-paxki-lh

The difference between the three dialects may be
seen:

Heart nako alkonoko lakatzin
World kiltamako katoxahuat tankilatzon
Moon malkoyo papa laxkipap
Maize koxi tapaxni kizpa

Good tzey tlaan kolhana
Truth ztonkua loloko tikxllana
To believe akaeniy kanalay katayahuay

The Lord’s Prayer in the dialect of Naolingo:
Kintlatkane nak tiayan huil takollalihuakahuanli 6

Our father in heaven art sanctified be

mimaokxot nikiminanin 6 mintakakchi tacholakahuanla
thy name come thy kingdom be done

6 minpahuat cholei kaknitiet chalchix nak tiayan. O
thy name as world as in heaven.

kinchouhkan lakalliya nikilaixkiuh yanohue kakilamat-
Our bread daily give us to-day forgive
zankaniuh kintakallitkan chonlei 6 kitnan lamatzanka-
us our faults as we ourselves we forgive

niyauh 6 kintalakallaniyan ka ala kilamaktaxtoyauh
our debtors and not us lead

nali yoyauh naka liyogni. Chon tacholakahuanla.
that webe in temptation. So be it done,

HUAZTEC GRAMMAR. 779

The descriptions or grammatical remarks of Vater
and Pimentel, vary in many points. For instance,
Vater says that the letters % and v are not used in this
language, while Pimentel mentions them both as being
used. The expression of the plural is also given differ-
ently by both, as are also several other points.”

From the grammar of Carlos de Tapia Zenteno,
which was also used by Gallatin and Pimentel, I offer
the following remarks on the Huaztec:

The letters used in writing this language are: a, }, ch.
d, ¢, 9, h, 1, j, k,l, m, n, 0, p, t, u,v, @, y, 2, t The
pronunciation is soft. Gender is denoted by the addi-
tion of the words imik, man, and weum, woman ;—
tzalle, king; uaxumizalle, queen; tzejelinik, young man;
tzejeluxum, young girl. The affix chick is used to express
the plural ;—atik, son; atikchick, sons; but there are a
few exceptions to this rule. Diminutives are expressed
by the preposition chichick, as;—te, tree; chichikte, small
tree. In some cases the preposition tzakam, or the affix
al, is used for this purpose. In the superlative the syl-
labie ie is used before the word, as;—pullik, great;
lepullik, very great. Personal pronouns ;—nana, I; tata,
thou; jaja, he; huahua, we; waxa, you; baba, they.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TAPJAL, TO HAVE.
INDICATIVE PRESENT.

I have, nana utahjal or intahjal | We have, huahua yatahjal
Thou hast, tata atahjal or ittabjal You have, xaxa yatahjai
He has, taja, intahjal They have, baba tabja

IMPERFECT.
I had, nana utahjalitz or intahjalitz
PERFECT.

Ihave had, nana utabjaitz or utahjamal, or utahjamalitz
PLUPERFECT,

Ihad had, _ nana utahjalak or utahjamalak, or utahjamalakitz

FIRST FUTURE.
T shall have, nana ku or kin, or kiatajah
IMPERATIVE.
Have, tata katahja
Mt Pimentel, Quadro, tom, ii., pp. 223-68; pp. 223-61; Vater, Mithridates,
tom. iii, pt iii., pp. 44-60.

780 THE MAYA-QUICHE LANGUAGES.

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.

If I have, nana kutahja or kiatahja
IMPERFECT.

If I had, nana kin or intahjalak .
INFINITIVE.

To have, tahjal

Verbal nouns and participles are formed by adding x
or chi, to the infinitive, as;—tzobnal, wo know; «and tzob-
naz, he who knows. There are said to be several differ-
ent dialects of this language in use. Following is the
Pater Noster as given by Zenteno in his Doctrina, and
as spoken in the mountains of the district of Tampico.

Pailomé anitquahat tiaeb, quaquauhl» anal. cachich
Father heaven holy said thy ose come

anatzalletal. Katahan analenal tétitzabai, «auaniiani hua-
thy kingdom. Be done thy will on the earth as to
tahab tiaeb. Ani tacupiza xahue cailel yabacanil ani
have heaven. And thougive to-day each day our bread and
tucupaculamchi antuhualabchic, antiani huahua tupacu-
thou forgive sins as we for-
lamchial tutomnanchixlomchik, ani ib takuhila tincal
give debtors and not lead that we
ib cucuallam tin exextalab. Timat taculouh timb4 ana ib
not fall us in temptation. But save us from no

cuacua. Anitz catahan.
holy (evil) so _—cbe it done,12

Lord’s Prayer in the dialect spoken in the Depart-
ment of San Luis Potosi:

Tatu puilom huahud, itcuajat, ti eb chie pelit santo
jajatz abi cachic atzale tal ti eb al huahua: catajaiz ta-
culbetal hantzand titzabal hantini tiaeb ani cep ud pata-
laguicha tacubinanchi, xoque ani tacupaculanchi; cal
igualab, ani ela tegui tacupalanchi cal y at guitzab ani
il tacujila cugualan cal junhi fataxtalb, maxibtaculohu
cal han atax mal tajana guatalel.

1 Zenteno, Lengua Huasteca; Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Trans:t., voi.
i., pp, 976-85; Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., pp. 5-34,

HUAZTEC LORD'S PRAYER. 781

Lord’s Prayer in the.dialect spoken in another part
of the district of Tampico:

Pailon qiia que cuajat tid el: tu cab tajal hanchand,
enta bi ca chix hanti ca ildl cataja na aquiztal hanchana
antich aval quinitine tid el. An pan abalgiia ti patis
hiiicha ha, tu piza segue, tu placuanchi ni gualal an-
chand jontinégiié yv placuanchal in at qualablom, il t*
en gila cu cualan anti atds cha lablal, tu en librari ti pa-
tas an ataz tabal, anchand juntam. Anchanan catajan.”

13 Col. Poliodémica, Mex., Oracion Dominical, pp. 8-10.

CHAPTER XII.

LANGUAGES OF HONDURAS, NICARAGUA, COSTA RICA, AND
THE ISTHMUS OF DARIEN,

Tux Carrs aN Importep LanavaGe—TueE Mosquito Lanavuace—Tukx Poya,
Towxa, Seco, VALIENTE, Rama, Cookra, WooLwa, AND OTHER LANGUAGES
in Honpuras—Tue Crontar—Mosquiro GramMaR—Love Sona 1N THE
Mosqourto LanauaGE—CoMPaRAaTIVE VOCABULARY OF Honpwras TONGUES
—Tue Corrpicr, CHorctEGa, CHONTAL AND OnoTINa IN Nicanaaua—
GRAMMAR OF THE OroTINA OR NAGRADAN—COMPARISON BETWEEN THR
Onotrfa AND CHornoTEGA—THE Currigof, Guatuso, TirIBI, AND OTHERS
1N Costa RroA—TanaManca VooABULARY—DiversITy OF SPEECH ON THE
Istumvus oF DarteN—ENUMERATION OF LaNGuAGES—COMPARATIVE VOCAB-
ULARY,

In Honduras there is a long list of tribal names,
to each of which is attributed a distinct tongue. Vo-
cabularies have been taken of three or four only,
and one, spoken on the Mosquito coast, has had its
grammatical structure reduced to writing. It is there-
fore impossible to make comparisons and therefrom to
determine how far ‘their number might be reduced by
classification. The first which I introduce is generally
conceded to have been imported. It is the Carib,
spoken on the shores of the bay of Honduras and on
the adjacent islands, and has been proven to be almost
identically the. same as the one spoken on the West
India Islands, From Cape Honduras to the Rio San
Juan, and extending inland as far as Black River,
the Mosquito language is in general use, Of it I

(

LANGUAGES OF HONDURAS. 783

shall insert a few grammatical remarks, In the
Poya Mountains a like-named tongue is spoken; on
the headwaters of the Patook River is the Towka, and
on the Rio Secos, the Seco. Further in the mountains,
near the boundary of Nicaragua, and extending into
that state are the Valiente and Rama, said to be both
separate tongues; and in the interior of the state
there are the Cookra and Woolwa, the latter spoken
in the province of Chontales, Others mentioned are
the Tonglas, the Lenca, the Smoo, the Teguaca, the
Albatuina, the Jara, the Taa, the Gaula, the Motuca,
the Fantasma, and the Sambo. Of these nothing but
the names can be given. The oldest authorities men-
tion, as a principal language the Chontal, the name
of a people and language met in many variations
in almost every state from Mexico to Nicaragua, As
there are no specimens of this language existing, it is
impossible to say whether one people and language
extended through all this territory or wheiier certain
wild tribes were designated by this general name, as,
according to Molina’s Mexican dictionary, chontalli
means stranger or foreigner; and popoluca, which
seems to be also used like chontalli, is defined as
barbarian, or man of another nation and language. I
am therefore of the opinion that no such nations as
Chontals or Popolucas exist, but that these names were
employed by che more civilized nations to designate
people speaking other and barbarous tongues.’

1 A classification has been made by Mr Squier, but in the absence of
reliable data on which to base it, it cannot be accepted without reserve.
He says: ‘it appears that Honduras was anciently occupied by at least four
distinc. families or groups.’ These he names: the Chorti or Sesenti, belong-
ing to the Maya Hye the Lenca, under the various names of Chontals and

erhaps Xicaques and Poyas;—in the third he includes the various tribes

tervening between the Iencas proper and the inhabitants of Cariay, or
what is now called the Mosquito shore, such as the Toacas, Tonglas, Ramas,
etc., and lastly in the fourth, the savages who dwelt on the Mosquito shore
from near Carataska Lagoon southward to the Rio San Juan. Cent.
Amer., pp. 252-3, See also Squier, in Palacio, Carta, note iii., pp. 100-5;
Froebel, Aus Amerika, tom. i., pp. 399-403; Id., Cent. Amer., PP. 133-36 ;
Boyle's Ride, vol. i., p. 287; Squier, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1858, tom.
elx., pp. 134-5; Palacio, Carta, p. 20. ‘ Variis et diversis linguis utebantur,
Chontalium tamen maxime erat inter eos communis,’ Laet, Novus Orbis, p.
337. ‘Tenian diferencias de lenguas, y la mas general es la de los Chonta-

784 LANGUAGES OF HONDURAS.

Of the Mosquito language, which is understood through-
out the whole Mosquito Coast, and of which I here give
a few grammatical remarks, Mr Squier remarks that ‘‘it is
not deficient in euphony, although defective in grammati-
cal power.’’? There is but one article, the numeral ad-
jective kumi, one, used also fora and an. The adjectives
are few in number, having no uniform termination, and
are discovered only by their signification, except when
participles, when they always terminate in ra or n.
Adjectives form the comparative by adding dara to the
positive and the superlative by adding pol except in two
words, wia and silpe, which have distinct words for each
degree of comparison, thus;—si/pe, small; wria, smaller;
katara, smallest; wia, much; kara, more; pol, most.
Comparison is usually formed in the manner following;
—yamne, good; yamne kara, better; yamne poli, best;
konra, strong; konra kara, stronger; konra poli, strongest.

In composition, to express excess or diminution, com-
parison is sometimes formed in this manner ;—/an al-
muk, Samuel almuk apia: John is old, Samuel is not
old.

ADJECTIVES.

Old almuk Bad saura
Every bane Green sanc
Tight, close bitne Black sixa
pe aber bulne Small silpe

reedy slabla Transparent slilong
Dull dimdim Slippery swokswaka
Circular iwit Sour swane
Less kausa Dam tauske
More kara . Gren tara
Hot ese Thin, flat tanta
Rich lela-kera ck twotne
Round marbra Poor umpira

les.’ Herrera, Hist. Gen.. deo, iv., lib. viii., wi iii; Juarros, Hist. Guat., p.
62; Galindo, Notice of the Caribs, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. iii., p.
290-1; Orozco y Berra, Ge 4a, p. 20. ‘Die Karaiben bedienen sich
noch gegenwiartig ihrer ganz eigenthiimlichen Sprache, welche bedeutend
von ‘allen fibrigen abweicht, und von den anderen Indianerstimmen nicht.
verstanden wird.’ Mosquitoland, Bericht, pp. 19-20, 140; Bell's Remarks on
Mosquito Ter., in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxxii., pp. 258-9; Wells’ Ea-
plor. Hond., Pp. 552-3,
* Bard's Waikna, p. 363. ‘Die Sprache....der Sambos oder eigent-
lichen Mosquitos, am meisten ausgebildet, allgemein verbreitet und wird im
nzen Lande von allen Stimmen verstanden und gesprochen,. Sie ist wohl-
Elingend, ohne besondere Kehlaute aber ziemlich arm und unbeholfen.’
Mosquitoland, Bericht, p. 140.

MOSQUITO ADJECTIVES AND DECLENSIONS.

Sharp
White

THE PERFECT TENSE USED AS AN ADJECTIVE.

Dry lawan Ang palan, or luan
Lazy shringwan Fearful sibrin

Slack, loose langwan Sore latwan

Wet buswan Sick, troubled warban

Dirty klaklan Dead pruan
Generous kupia-pine

The gender is commonly marked by adding waikna
for the male and mairen for the female, or, for beasts,
wainatka for the male, and mairen, as before, for the
female. Thus;—lupia waikna, a son; lupia mairen, a
daughter; bip wainatka, a bull; bip mairen, a cow. In
nouns relating to the human species the plural is
formed by adding nani to the singular; as;—waikna,
a& man; watkna nani, men; yapte, mother; yapte nani,
mothers. Other nouns have the plural the same as
the singular, although sometimes a plural is formed by
adding ra to the singular ;—inska, a fish; inskara, fishes.

There are four cases, distinguished by their termina-
tions, the nominative, dative, accusative, and ablative.

DECLENSION OF THE WORD AIZE, FATHER.
SINGULAR, PLURAL,
Father nize Fathers aize-nani
To father aizera To fathers aize-nanira

Father aize Fathers aize-nani
With father aize-ne With fathers aize-ne-nani

WITH AFFIX KE.
SINGULAR. PLURAL,
My father nize-ke My fathers aizeke-nani
To my father aizekra To my fathers aizeke-nanira
My father aizeke My fathers aizeke-nani
With my father aize-ke-ne | With my fathers aizekene nani

WITH AFFIX KAM,
BINGULAB. PLURAL.
Thy father aizekam Thy fathers aizekam-nani
To thy father aizekamra | ‘'o thy fathers aizekam-nanira
Thy father aizekam Thy fathers aizekam-nani
Wien thy, rane aizekam-ne | With thy fathers aizekam ne nani
ol. .

786 LANGUAGES OF HONDURAS.

SINGULAR,
Nom. His ai upla Their ai upla-nani
Dat. To tis t reple ai wold To that rople Py uplarnanire
ai upla-n

Abt, Witt big people ot cblane With eit people ai uplane-nani
To form the possessive case of nouns, the word dukia,
signifying ‘belonging’, isadded. The word, being subject
to a declension peculiar to itself, is on that account not
put as an affix in the usual declension of nouns,
DECLENSION OF THE WORD DUKIA, BELONGING, POSSESSION.

Belonging, possession dukia

Belonging to him, to them ai dukiara

Belonging to thee, to you ai dukiamra

In my possession, belonging tome dukia-ne

SINGULAB. PLURAL.

Of me, mine yung dukia Of us, ours yung-nani dukia
Of thee, thine man dukia Of you, yours man-nani dukia
Of him, his, hers, its wetin dukia Of them, theirs wetin nanidukia

There are twelve pronouns, mostly declinable. Six of
them are personal.

I yang Self bui
Thou man Our wan
He wetin He, his, her, hers, I, me, etc. ai
Three are relative, and three adjective.
RELATIVE.

This baha What naki
That naha Which ansa
Other wala Who dia

The first three are declined alike; thus
DECLENSION OF THE WORD YUNG, I.

SINGULAR. PLUBAL,
Nom. I yung We nani
Dat. Tome yangra To us vangeinise
Acc. Me yung Us yung-nani
Abl. Inme yung-ne With us yung-nani kera
DECLENSION OF THE WORD MAN, THOU.
SINGULAR. PLURAL.
Nom. Thou man You man-nani
Dat. To thee manra To you man-nanira
Acc. Thee man You man-nani
Abl. In thee man-ne With you man-nani-kera
DECLENSION OF THE WORD WETIN, HE.
SINGULAR, PLURAL,
Nom, He wetin They weti::-nani
Dat. Tohim wetinra To them wetin-nanira
Acc. Him wetin Them wetin nani
Abl. In him wetin-ne With them wetin-nani kera

MOSQUITO ADVERBS AND PREPOSITIONS. 787

Affixes are also joined to pronouns to increase, vary,
or change their signification, such as sa, ne, ra, am, and
others, as well as prepositions and adverbs.

There are but three interjections: alai! alas! kais/ lo!
and alakai! O dear!

Adverbs are numerous, and admit of certain varia-
tions in their signification by the use of affixes, thus;—
nara, here; narasa, here it is; lama, near; /amara, nearer.

Quickly ane tara
When ankia ansera
bat in bane aika-aika
esterday, the
other day eua-wala
Presently kanara
When kanka
i kli
mit
naiua
naika Here it is
bai No more
Immediately es
To-morrow Anything
After to morrow Sweetly
Exactly
Strangely

y
For nothing Very, truly
Not, never Enongh
Not Truly
It is not i

There are twenty-eight prepositions. Some of them
tic also used as conjunctions; and some, like the ad-
verb, admit of a variation.

At, near, about mata
To, there bara maira
In monunta
Into, within monuntara
Against d i ninara
Beyond fter ninka
With Without, destitute para
Through Over, upon pura
With, together i Upon, above purara
In front 1 Before, anterior pus
Opposite, before Without, exterior skera
Unto, close Among tilara
Without, outside With

Between, centre _lilapos From, out of

CONJUNCTIONS,

Then baha Until
Since baha-wina )w
Like bako How
Because, for bamna Next

LANGUAGES OF HONDURAS.

bun But sekuna
bunsa Lest sia
kaka And, also sin
kau And wal
kause

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB KAIA, TO BE.
PRESENT INDICATIVE.

Iam, yung ne The same, only placing nani after
Thou art, man kam the pronouns.
He is, wetin

FERFECT. FUTURE.
I have been, kare I shall be, kamne
Thou hast been, karum Thou wilt be, kama
He has been, He will be, kabia

IMPERATIVE.
Be thou, kama Let us be, kape
Let him be, kabia Be ye, man-nani-kama
Let them be, wetin nani kabia

OTHER FORMS.
T have not been, kerus
Thou hast not been, kerum
He has not been, keruiskan
I shall not be, kamue-apia
Thou wilt not be, kama-apia
He shall not be, kabia-apia
We shall not be, yung-nani kamne-apia
Ye shall not be, man-nani kama-apia
They shall not be, wetin-nani kabia-apia
Shall I not be? kamne-apiake
Wilt thou not be? kama-apiake
Shall he not be? kabia-apiake

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB DAUKAIA, TO MAKE.

PRESENT INDICATIVE.
SINGULAR. PLURAL,
I make, daukisne We make, yung-nani daukisne
Thou makest, daukisma You make, man-nani daukisma
He makes, daukisa, or dauki They make, wetin-nani dauki,
or daukisa

IMPERFECT,
I did make, daukatne
Thou didst make, daukatma
He did make, daukata

In the same way every tense forms the plural, having
no difference in the terminations,

PERFECT. FUTUR!..
T have made, daukre T shall make, daukamne
Thou hast made, daukrum Thou wilt make, daukama
He has made, daukan He will make, daukbia

IMPERATIVE.
Make, daux Let us make, daukpe
Let him make, daukbia, or Make ye, man nani daux
daukbiasika Let them make, _-wetin nani dauk-
bia, or daukbia-
sika

MOSQUITO LOVE SONG.

OTHER FORMS.

I make not,

I did not make,

I have not made,

I shall not make,

Make not,

Let him not make,

Let us not make,

Make ye not,

Let them not make,

I may or can make,

I should make,

I may have made,

I might have made,

I shall have made,

Do I make?

Do I not make?

Dost thou not make, or
makest thou not?

Does he not make?

Shall I not make?

If I make,

If I had not made,

daukrusne

daukruskatne

yung daukrus
daukamme-apia
daukparama, or man da’
daukiera, or wetin daukbiera
yung nani ee daa
man nani daukpara, or parama
wetin Av eee aed

yung she ukisne
Jaukaiakatne

yung shep daukre

yung daukatnekrane
daukaiakamne

daukisneke

daukrusneke

daukrusmake
daukruske
daukamne.apiake

yung deukikaka
yung daukruskaka 3

As a specimen of this language I have the following

love song:

Keker miren nine, warwar pdser yamne krouekan.

Dear mane kuker

Coope nérer mi koolkun I doukser.

cle wol proue. I sabbedne wal moonter moppara.
Keker misére yapte winegan. Koker sombolo barnar
lippun, lippun, lippunke. Koolunker punater bin bi-
wegan. Coope narer tines I doukser. Coope ndrer mi
koolkun I doukser.

Of this the translation is given as follows:

Dear girl, I am going far from thee. When shall
we meet again to wander together on the sea-side? I
feel the sweet sea-breeze blow its welcome on my cheek.
I hear the distant rolling of the mournful thunder. — I
see the lightning flashing on the mountain’s top, and
illuminating all things below, but thou art not near me.
My heart is sad and sorrowful; farewell! dear girl,
without thee I am desolate.‘

Following is a comparative vocavulary of some of the
other languages.

3 Mosquitoland, Bericht, pp. 241-68; Alex, Henderson’s Grammar, Moskito
Lang., N. York, 1846.
4 Young’s Narrative, pp. 77-8.

LANGUAGES OF HONDURAS.

EEE ANE BODOO BROOMS @ ARR,

all jomé
yall itmé
tunni ipuco waichie
fora
miniktaka non
nagnitak meguin
ja chef
maa Ibehapoy wello
cukh ‘iqueamoos wat
uass sur dunna
pai
sulo soyo
sae
tiltique
tecuting
alaslach pani labama
muyebu matis biama
muyebas contis irwa
muyarunca urupau biamburi
muyesinca casanpani abanawajap
muyhasluy camaspus sunwajp >

5 Squier’s Cent. Amer., pp. 253-6; Id., in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1858, clx., p. 135; Froebel, Aus Amerika, tom. i., pp. 400-1.

OROTINA CONJUGATIONS. 791

Besides the Aztec, which I have already spoken of
in a previous chapter, there were four distinct languages
spoken in Nicaragua:—The Coribici, Chorotega, Chon-
tal, and Orotifia.’ Of the Orotifia, which Mr Squier
calls the Nagrandan, I have the following grammatical
notes.

Neither articles nor prepositions are expressed. The
plural is formed by the affix nu;—ruscu, bird; rus-
cunu, birds. Comparatives and superlatives are ex-
pressed by mah, better or more, and pooru or puru, best
or most ;—mehefta, good ; ma-mehena, better ; puru-mehena,

‘best. Diminutives, or deficiency, are expressed by at
or mai ;—ai-mehenia or mai-mehena, bad or lacking good.

PRONOUNS.

I icu Cc 1
We, mase. hechela i rs ag
We, fem. hecheri i hala

Thou ca cadchinulu
You, m. hechela
You, f. hechelai
He icau
She icagui
They, m. icanu
They, f. icagunu
That cagui

6 “Ay en Nicaragua cinco ace gciaiee muy diferentes: Coribici, que loan

mucho, Chorotega, que es la nat yantigua: y assi estan enlos que lo hablan
los heredamientus, y e! Cacao, que es la moneda, y riqueza dela tierra
Chondal es grossero, y serrano. Orotiiia, que dize mama, por lo que no
otros (nosotros). Mexicano, que es la principal.’ Gomara, Hist, Ind., fol. 264.
*A quatro 6 cinco lenguas distintas é diverssas las unas de las otras. La
principal es la que llaman de Nicaragua, y es la mesma que hablan en Mé-
xico 6 en Nueva Espaiia. La otra es la lengua que llaman de Chorotega, é
la tercera es Chondal... Otra hay ques del golpho de Orotifiaruba hacia la
Rese del Nordeste, 6 otras Jenguas hay adelante la tierra adentro.’ Oviedo,
ist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 35, 37. Herrera, who has sopted from Gomara al-
most literally, has made a very important mistake; he speaks of five lan-
guages and only mentions four. As Herrera mentions a place Chuloteca,
some writers, and among them Mr Squier, have applied this name to a lan-
e, but seemingly without authority. Herrera’s copy reads: ‘ Hablauan
en Nicaragua, cinco lenguas diferentes, Coribizi, que lo hablan mucho en
Chuloteca, que es la natural, y antigua, y ansi estauan en los que la hablau-
an....Los de Chondal son grosseros, y serranos, la quarta es Orotina, Mex-
icana es la quinta.’ Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii. Purchas has copied
Gomara more closely, and cites the five like him. Pilgrimes, vol. v., p. 887.
Mr Squier makes the following division: Dirian, Nagrandan, Choluteca, Oro-
tina, and Chondal. Those speaking the Aztec dialect he names Niquirans
and also counts the Choluteca as a dialect of the same. Nicaragua, vol. ii.,
P. 310-12; Buschmann, Ortsnamen, p. 132; Froebel, Cent. Amer., p. 59, et neg.
le’s Ride, vol. i., p. 267, vol. il., pp. 286-7; Hassel, Dex. Dat’, p. 397;
Palacio, Carta, p

LANGUAGES OF NICARAGHVA.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB SA, TO BE.

SINGULAR,

I am,
Thou art,
He is,

I was,
Thou wast,
He was,

I have been,
Thou hast been,
He has been,

I had been,
Thou hadst been,
He had been,

T shall be,

I shall have been,

PRESENT INDICATIVE.

We are,
You are,
They are,
IMPERFECT.
We were,
You were,
They were,
PERFECT.
We have been,
You have been,
They have been,
PLUPERFECT,
mucasini
mucanasini
mu

8h
Bh

can&
cand
cand

Bh ch
sachu
sack

FIRST FUTURE.

lamanambi | We shall be,
SECOND FUTURE.

malamana | We shall have been,

PLURAL.

50

s& cuahi
ga gahu

Plural the same

lamananna

lamana

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB AIHA, TIHA, AHIHA, TO COME.

SIN IULAR,
I come,

I came,

I have come,

I had come,

I shall come,

I shall have come,

Come,
I should come,
If I had come,

PRESENT INDICATIVE,

icunaha | We come,

IMPERFEOY.
incunahalu | We came,

PERFECT.
icusanaha | We have come,

PLUPERFECT,
icuschisalu | We had come,

FIRST FUTURE.
icugaha | We shall come,
SECOND FUTURE.
iouvibiluniha | We shall have come,

IMPERATIVE,

ahiyaica | Let us come,
iougahalu

icumahaluvi-
hilu

We should come,

If we had come,

7 Squier's Nicaragua, vol. ii., pp. 315-319,

each lunagu:
eche, \-
bi

hechelunagu-
bald Agu:

hechz! sagu-
ali

hechelunigu-
alalu

hecheluguha

hechehivihi-
luingualalu

ahiyohecheu

hechelugu-
alalu

hechelumain-

ueamaguiba 7

NICARAGUA AND COSTA RICA VOCABULARIES, 793

Of the Orotifia and Chorotega T also insert a short
vocabulary.

OROTINA CHOROTEGA OROTINA CHOROTEGA
Man rahpa nuho eeia nimbu
Woman rapaku _nahseyomo esee, Or esenu nugo
Head _a’cu, oredi goochemo WwW ara nanguima
Face enu grote i mahuia boprima
Ear nau nuhme aiyu, oricu paya
Eye setu ashte. gagame
Nose ta'co mungoo andirume
Arm pa’pu deno I i saho
House gua nahngu sumusheta
Sun ahca numbu W hechelu semehmu 8
Fire ahku nahv,

More scanty still is the information regarding the
tongues of Costa Rica. Only one vocabulary is at
hand of the languages spoken by the Blancos, Valientes,
and Talamancas, who inhabit the east coast between the
Rio Zent and the Boca del Toro. Besides these there
are mentioned, as speaking separate tongues, the Chi-
ripos, Guatusos, and Tirik's. Of the language of the
Talamancas I give a few words.

Man signa-kirinema df-tzita

Woman signa-arigre 4k
sa-za-kii u-ruk
sa-kar-kii tschi-tschi
su-kii-ke buisi
su-wu-Akétéi be-so-i
su-tshu-ko-té be-hé
sa-fra-tzin-sek tschi-si
suhii H se-dé
kan-hué sa-ta-war-ke
tu-lu se-hetsch-te
tschii-ko be-zo 9

On the isthmus of Darien there is nothing to be
mentioned but the names of tongues said to have been
spoken there, and of specimens nothing but a few
scanty vocabularies exist. Oviedo, speaking of Nica-
ragua, Costa Rica, and the ancient province of Tierra
Firme, thinks there were as many as seventy-two dis-
tinct tongues spoken in that region. He specially
mentions the Coiba, the Burica, and the Paris.® Anda-

8 Td, pp. 320-23,

9 Warmer and Scherzer, Costa Rica, p. 562; Scherzer, Vocad,, in Sitzunga-

berichte der Akad. der Wissensch., Wien, vol. xv., no. i., 1855, pp, 28-35.
10 ‘ Pienso yo que son apartados del nimero de ias septenta y dos,’ Ovi-

794 ISTHMIAN LANGUAGES.

goya speaks of a distinct language in the province of
Acla; another called the Cueva as spoken in the prov-
inces of Comogre and Biruqueta, on Pearl Island, about
the gulf of San Miguel, and in the province of Coiba;
at Nombre de Dios the Chuchura; to each of the prov-
inces of Tobreytrota, Nata, Chiru, Chame, Paris, Esco-
ria, Chicacotra, Sangana, and Guarara, a distinct lan-
guage is assigned.“ Another tongue spoken of by an
old writer is that of the Simerones.” To the different
surveying and exploring expeditions of later years we
are indebted for a few notes on the languages spoken
in Darien at this day. The Tules, Dariens, Cholos,
Dorachos, Savanerics, Cunas, and Bayamos, are new
names not mentioned by any of the older writers; of
some of them vocabularies have been taken, but other-
wise we are left in darkness.”

CHOLO TULE WAFER’S DARIEN VOCAB.
Water pa: tee doola
Fire tuboor cho
Sun sea ipé
Moon edecho nee nee
Tree achru chowala (pl.)
House hé neka
Man mochina mastola
Woman wuena pundola poonah
Thunder pa marra
Dog achu
Ear ‘ uwa
Eye ibia
Nose an uchuu
Mouth kagya
Father tauts".
Mother ; naunah
Brother roopah
Go chaunah
Sleep cotchah
Fine mamaubah

edo, Hist. Gen., tom. i., lib. ii., cap. xliii, ‘I?m tierra firme. ...ai mui diver-
gas, i apartadas Lenguas.’ Oviedo, Froemio, in Barcia, Historiadores, tom. i.,
p. 12. ‘Ai entre ellos lenguas diferentes.’ Fernando Colon, in Barcta, Histo-
riadores, tom. i., fol. 106. ‘Son trd lor diuerse lingue.’ Colombo, Hist. Am-

io, p. 405,

Il Andagoya, Relacion, in Navarrete Col., tom. iii., p. 393, et .; Her-
vera, Hist. Gen., dec, iv., lib. i., cap. xi. " is

'8 Baptista Antonio, Relation, in Hakluyt’s Voy., tom. iii., fol. 554,

13 Vater Mithridates, tom, iii., pt ii. p. 707; Cullen’s Darien, p. 65; Fitz-
roy, in Lond, Geog., Soc., Jour., vol. xx., p. 164; Latham, in Id., pp. 189-
90; Seeman’s Voy. Herald, vol. i., p. 312; Bidwell’s Isthmus. pp. ; De
Puydt, Heplor,, in Lond, Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xxxviii., p. 91.

CHOLO, TULE, AND DARIEN LANGUAGES. 795

CHOLO TULE WAFER’S DARIEN VOCAB.
quenchaqus hean
pocoa div
Faken bs
er
a

cooig
ambe deh

Although from a perusal of what has here been gath-
ered we might wish to know more of the weird imag-
inings that floated through the minds of these peoples,
and to follow further the interminable intermixture of
tongues and dialects, spoken, grunted, and gestured be-
tween the Arctic Ocean and the Atrato River, we must
content ourselves with what we have. I have gathered
and given in this volume all that I have been able to
find; and from the readiness with which the Americans
were wont to adopt the dogmas and creeds of Euro-
peans, supernatural conceptions supposedly superior to
their own, and insist upon their being aboriginal, and
from the rapid and bewildering changes that so quickly
mar and destroy the original purity of tongues, there is
little hope of our learning further from living lips, or
of our ever being able to study these things from the
scattered and degraded remnants of the people them-
selves,

He who carefully examines the Myths and Languages
of the aboriginal nations inhabiting the Pacific States,
cannot fail to be impressed with the similarity between
them and the beliefs and tongues of mankind elsewhere.
Here is the same insatiate thirst to know the unknowable,
here are the same audacious attempts to tear asunder the
veil, the same fashioning and peopling of worlds, laying
out and circumscribing of celestial regions, and manu-
factuing, and setting up, spiritually and materially, of
creators, man and animal makers and rulers, everywhere
manifest. Here is apparent what would seem to be the
same inherent necessity for worship, for propitiation, for

14 Cullen's Darien, » PP. 99-102; a, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol.
xx., p. 190; Wafer’s New Voy., pp. 186-188,

796 CONCLUSION.

purification, or a cleansing from sin, for atonement and
sacrifice, with all the symbols and paraphernalia of nat-
ural and artificial religion. In their speech the same
grammatical constructions are seen with the usual varia-
tions in form and scope, in poverty and richness, which
are found in nations, rude or cultivated, everywhere.
Little as we know of the beginning and end of things,
we can but feel, as fresh facts are brought to light and
new comparisons made between the races and ages of
the earth, that humanity, of whatsoever origin it may
be or howsoever circumstanced, is formed on one model,
and unfolds under the influence of one inspiration.

END OF THE THIRD VOLUME.